Akel family donates $50,000 for UHS workers

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The Akel family has donated $50,000 to the UHS Foundation to support health-care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in the greater Binghamton area.

For 76 years, the Akel family owned and operated Binghamton’s Giant markets, a local grocery chain established in 1933, according to a UHS news release.

The Akels have made an equivalent donation to the Lourdes Hospital Foundation, UHS noted.

The donation to the UHS Foundation has “jump-started” the foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund, Cory Jacobs, executive director of the UHS Foundation, said. “This very generous donation will help fund a number of efforts that are under way to benefit the people providing patient care in our community,” she added.

In a statement issued in March, Akel family members expressed their hope that their contributions in the battle against the coronavirus will encourage others to lend their support as well.

The donation to the UHS Foundation will assist UHS staff members impacted by COVID-19, according to Jacobs. Some of the money will be used to fund meal deliveries to UHS staff in coordination with two local volunteer groups, Hospital Heroes from Broome-Tioga BOCES, and the Feeding First Responders project of the Water Street Brewing Co.

The UHS Foundation also plans to purchase materials used in the making of face shields and cloth masks, as well as “bounce-back kits.” The kits consist of mints, lip balm, deodorant, earplugs, stress balls and other items staff can relax with on a break or at the end of a shift.

“We are ready to meet other needs as they arise,” Jacobs said.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the COVID-19 Response Fund can do so at nyuhs.org/donate, UHS said.

The nonprofit United Health Services, Inc. (UHS) is a locally owned hospital and health-care system serving the Binghamton area and surrounding counties. Founded in 1981, UHS provides medical, surgical, rehabilitative, and long-term care services throughout New York’s Southern Tier.