Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has awarded $6,340,000 in emergency grants to support Maricopa County science, human services, and arts and culture nonprofits during the unprecedented economic crisis, stemming from the Coronavirus outbreak.

Two-thirds, or $4.3 million of the Trust’s emergency grant funding, will go toward human services and arts and cultural nonprofits facing a myriad of threats from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, including revenue losses from event cancellations and declining donations.

Human services organizations are handling a dramatic increase in community need for their services while workforces shrink, as many volunteers, according to a press release, must shelter in place.

“Now is the time for those who can—individuals and public and private sector organizations—to step in quickly and support our nonprofits,” said Mary Jane Rynd, president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. “They are serving on the frontlines and are essential to our health and economic vitality.”

Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute will receive a $2 million grant to expand its automated, rapid diagnostic testing to mitigate the viral spread and potential reoccurrence of COVID-19.

“ASU is in a unique position to scale up our testing efforts to support round-the-clock testing and analyze hundreds of samples daily,” said Dr. Joshua LaBaer, director of ASU’s Biodesign Institute, who also serves as the Piper Chair in Personalized Medicine and leader of the Biodesign Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics.

“We have an urgent window right now to make an impact through testing and save lives in our community.”

The Piper Trust grant will support ASU’s response to COVID-19 emergency preparedness by: testing critical workforce including healthcare workers, first responders, and essential infrastructure personnel; assembling nose and throat swab test kits in short supply for healthcare providers; manufacturing personal protective equipment such as face shields through its 3D printing rapid response services.

Recently, Piper Trust, the Flinn Foundation, NARBHA Institute, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona each awarded $100,000 to the Translational Genomics Research Institute, an affiliate of City of Hope to support using advanced biomedical technologies for testing and state-of-the art genomic analysis of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This funding supports the initial costs of TGen’s efforts to get in front of the COVID-19 global health threat.

Recipients of $4.2 million in COVID-19 emergency grants to human service and arts and culture nonprofits:

Human Services Organizations

Grants of $250,000
• Association of Arizona Food Banks • The Salvation Army • The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Grants of $100,000
• Benevilla • Catholic Charities Community Services • Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. • Foundation for Senior Living • Human Services Campus, Inc. • Native American Connections, Inc. • Phoenix Rescue Mission • Southwest Human Development

Grants of $50,000
• André House of Arizona, Inc. • Central Arizona Shelter Services • ICM Food and Clothing Bank • Paz de Cristo Community Center • Wesley Community and Health Center

Grants of $20,000

• About Care, Inc. • Aster Aging, Inc. • Chrysalis Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence, Inc. • Duet: Partners in Health & Aging • Family Promise-Greater Phoenix • Esperança, Inc. • Maggie’s Place • Neighbors Who Care, Inc. • New Life Center • one∙n∙ten • Save the Family Foundation of Arizona • Sojourner Center

Arts And Culture Organizations

Grants of $150,000
• Arizona Science Center • Desert Botanical Garden • Heard Museum • Phoenix Art Museum • The Phoenix Symphony • Phoenix Zoo • Scottsdale Arts

Grants of $100,000
• Arizona Opera • Arizona Theatre Company • Ballet Arizona • Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation • Phoenix Theatre

Grants of $75,000
• Children’s Museum of Phoenix • Childsplay, Inc. • Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West

Grants of $50,000
• Arizona Musicfest • Chandler Cultural Foundation

Grants of $25,000
• Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona • Herberger Theater Center • i.d.e.a. Museum • Phoenix Boys Choir • Phoenix Center for the Arts • Theater Works • Valley Youth Theatre

Grants of $10,000
• Act One • Arizona Jewish Historical Society • Black Theatre Troupe, Inc. • Fountain Hills Theatre, Inc. • Jazz in Arizona, Inc. • Mesa Arts Center Foundation • Phoenix Conservatory of Music • Phoenix Girls Chorus, Inc. • Rosie’s House: A Music Academy for Children • Southwest Shakespeare Company

Grants of $5,000
• Artlink, Inc. • CALA Alliance • Greasepaint Youtheatre • iTheater Collaborative • Musical Theatre of Anthem • Phoenix Chamber Music Society • Phoenix Chorale • SOUNDS Academy • West Valley Arts Council • Xico, Inc.