In response to the COVID-19 emergency, the Foundation launched a special round of small grants that specifically help alleviate the damaging effects of the pandemic in Venezuela in the midst of a deteriorating public health system.

Through an open call on the SBF website, organizations presented projects that could be implemented quickly based on defined criteria, including impact, project plan and cost-effectiveness. All projects were evaluated through a competitive review process administered by an experienced advisory committee. From a pool of 38 applicants, 15 projects were selected and will receive a total of $425,631 in donations to make each project a reality. For safety reasons, the names of grantees are not listed.

The projects included:

• Preventing and detecting COVID-19 patients in a high-risk community of more than 350 people in a rural area within Zulia state.
• Providing approximately 15,000 nutritious and fortified meals per month, feeding more than 700 beneficiaries.
• Developing a telemedicine service for screening, management, and remote monitoring for COVID-19 patients. It will provide more than 5,400 hours of medical attention to approximately 5,500 direct and indirect patients in Lara state, Venezuela.
• Providing 220 cystic fibrosis patients in Maracaibo with equipment, nutrition supplies, medications, and oxygen to ensure their wellbeing.
• Supporting more than 14,800 children in 12 Venezuelan states and equipping soup kitchens and community centers with sanitation material, tanks, and water purification filters to mitigate the contagion of COVID-19 and support feeding programs.
• Providing personal protective equipment and hygiene products to prevent the spread of coronavirus in 73 nursing homes that serve approximately 1,600 elderly people in the Capital District, Miranda and Lara states in Venezuela.
• Providing personal protection equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies and portable sinks, medicines, supplements, and education for patients, personnel, and visitors at a pediatric hospital in Venezuela.
• Developing a diagnostic test for tuberculosis using the molecular method in patients previously diagnosed with COVID-19 in Mérida state, Venezuela, that will be provided for free to more than 2,000 people.
• Distributing technological equipment that will facilitate telemedicine services for approximately 1,200 elderly or disabled people in various locations in Venezuela.
• Providing a direct telephone line will be available to provide free telemedicine services for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients exposed or infected with COVID -19 throughout the country.
• Donating 2,000 approximately medical kits with PPE, antiseptic alcohol and paracetamol to doctors and health personnel, and 2,175 kits for patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus in 11 hospitals in Venezuela.