CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper and Bank of America Corp. committed $1 million each to a community COVID-19 relief fund on Thursday, pushing the fundraising effort to nearly $8 million in the span of four days.
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That amount already eclipses a similar, months-long campaign in the 2008 financial crisis that generated a total of $6.6 million.
The previous effort, started in the teeth of the Great Recession, began with philanthropists Leon and Sandra Levine donating $1 million to a relief fund started by the Foundation For The Carolinas to help those most in need to survive amid rampant job cuts and financial carnage.
That fund reached $1.5 million by the end of its first month. All of the money, controlled by a community committee, was donated to various nonprofits to help people in the direst circumstances.
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This week, the foundation, in partnership with United Way of Central Carolinas, started the COVID-19 Response Fund. The David A. Tepper Charitable Foundation and Bank of America Corp. on Thursday committed $1 million to push the four-day total for the COVID-19 Response Fund to $7.8 million. As was the case a decade ago, the money raised will be used to help people facing the most severe hardships.
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