The Atlanta-based Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has sent $250,000 to UNICEF toward its efforts to aid children and families displaced or harmed by the war in Ukraine.
Named for the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner and former Home Depot executive, the foundation is known for its deep focus on issues affecting the city, but Mr. Blank said he has been moved by the suffering on display since the war began more than two weeks ago.
More than 2 million people have already been forced to flee Ukraine, according to the United Nations, with many more internally displaced.
“In this moment of crisis, we must do what’s right and support our brothers and sisters who have been forced to flee their homes or who are trapped in an escalating conflict. Our hearts go out to the Ukranian people who are in a desperate situation to save their homes, their families and their lives. We encourage others to join us, so that together we can all play a part in providing much needed humanitarian aid.”
The Blank Foundation in 2019 made a grant to Atlanta-based CARE’s Humanitarian Surge Fund, designed to aid in rapid response to such humanitarian crises, a sum now being used as CARE joins in an international effort to protect and assist refugees from the Russia’s invasion.
The foundation has granted more than $800 million in the last 25 years and over the next decade is to be focused on three pillars: youth development, democracy and conservation and climate resiliency.