Foundation Of Barbara And Ray Dalio Commits $4 Million For COVID-19 Relief In Connecticut

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 22, 2020
  • Barbara and Ray Dalio and Dalio Philanthropies have announced a $4 million donation in support of medical care and food for those who are most stressed and cannot afford it in the state of Connecticut

Barbara and Ray Dalio and Dalio Philanthropies have announced a $4 million donation in support of medical care and food for those who are most stressed and cannot afford it in the state of Connecticut. Of the $4 million, $3 million dollars will be directed toward the sponsorship of childcare services at 26 centers across the state for hospital workers.

The funds are going to pay for childcare for 8 weeks for approximately 1,066 children to be provided at facilities located in close proximity to the hospital where their parent(s) work. And the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) will administer the program in close coordination with Commissioner Beth Bye and the Office of Early Childhood.

“Ray and I are deeply concerned about these front-line hospital workers, and the additional burdens they’re bearing as a result of this pandemic,” said Barbara Dalio. “We want to do what we can to make sure they get the childcare services they need so they can provide medical care for others. We are starting with frontline hospital workers whose children are all of a sudden home every day and who don’t have childcare. To us, they are heroes. The least we can do is make sure their children are taken care of while they’re on the front lines providing medical care.”

The other $1 million of the donation will go toward food and nutrition for Connecticut residents in need. Of that $1 million, $500,000 will be provided to Foodshare to purchase 14 trailers of food that will be distributed across 64 sites statewide feeding an estimated 35,000 people for 10 weeks. And the other $500,000 will be provided to the Connecticut Food Bank to distribute statewide. Connecticut Food Bank’s network of over 300 member agencies – food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, residential programs, senior and veteran centers, day programs for low-income adults and children – serves over 118,000 individuals per month across the six-county service area.

“We have been told that these organizations expect an increase of at least 20% in terms of the number of people who will need help obtaining food for their families,” added Barbara Dalio. “These are terrific organizations that have spent years helping families by providing them with nutritional meals. We are grateful to have the opportunity to help them since they provide so much help to others.”

Ray Dalio is the head of Bridgewater Associates, which is the world’s largest hedge fund. Bridgewater is the world’s largest hedge fund with about $160 billion in assets under management. And Ray Dalio’s net worth is estimated to be about $18 billion, making him the wealthiest resident in Connecticut.

Last year, the Dalio family also established a $100 million endowment for working with the state of Connecticut to improve public school education.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Dalio estimated that corporations in the U.S. will lose as much as $4 trillion due to economic damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak. And corporate losses are expected to hit $12 trillion due to the pandemic.

The Trump administration is working on a relief package of about $1.3 trillion to aid Americans affected by the virus. Plus the U.S. Federal Reserve slashed interest rates and also pledge billions of dollars in asset purchases.

“We’re in an economic downturn. What you’re seeing is the inability of central banks to stimulate monetary policy in a way that is normal,” explained Ray Dalio in the interview.