Sony announces $100 million coronavirus relief fund aimed at medical workers, education and entertainment
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The Sony Corporation announced that it has started a $100 million relief fund to help those in three key industries that have been impacted financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement provided to Fox News, the technology and entertainment giant announced the "Sony Global Relief Fund for COVID-19." As the world continues to change and adapt to the ongoing pandemic, Sony is using its resources to help certain sectors it deems essential.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Through this fund, Sony will provide support in three areas: assistance for those individuals engaged in frontline medical and first responder efforts to fight the virus, support for children and educators who must now work remotely, and support for members of the creative community in the entertainment industry, which has been greatly impacted by the spread of the virus," the statement reads.
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On the medial support front, Sony declared that $10 million of the fund will be devoted to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO powered by the UN Foundation and Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, as well as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The money will go toward assisting medical workers as well as other frontline responders to the coronavirus pandemic. It will also seek out ways to further prevent the spread and even treat COVID-19.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kenichiro Yoshida, chief executive officer of Sony Corp., sent condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones due to the coronavirus pandemic while announcing the company's $100 million relief fund. (Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The statement continues: "In the area of education, where children, who represent the next generation, are losing education opportunities as a result of school closures, Sony will explore ways to leverage its technologies in support of education activities, and cooperate with educators to implement these measures."
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The third part of the Japan-based tech giant’s plan, help for key parts of the entertainment industry that have been impacted by the pandemic, is a bit more vague in terms of specific efforts to help.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Furthermore, in terms of the creative community such as music, pictures, games and animation, together with its group companies engaged in the entertainment industry, Sony will seek ways to support up-and-coming creators, artists and all those in professions supporting the industry, who have been impacted by the cancellation or postponement of concerts and live events, or the shutting down of film and television productions."
The company will also offer its roughly 110,000 employees the opportunity to provide money for COVID-19 relief as well, saying it will match any gift they want to give.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Sony extends its condolences to the families of those who have passed away as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, and extends its sympathies to all those who have been impacted," Sony’s president and CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, concluded the statement. "In order to overcome the unprecedented challenges that as a society we now face around the world, we will do all we can as a global company to support the individuals on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19, the children who are our future, and those who have been impacted in the creative community."