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COVID-19 SUPPORT

COVID-19 SUPPORT

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Gillette Stadium Used as Mass Vaccination Site

In January 2021, Gillette Stadium opened as the first mass vaccination site in the northeast. The Kraft family and New England Patriots organization is proud to have served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and all of New England throughout this pandemic.

COVID-19 IMPACT

Gillette Stadium is First Large-Scale Vaccination Site in Northeast

Gillette Stadium is First Large-Scale Vaccination Site in Northeast

In partnership with CIC Health and Governor Charlie Baker, Gillette Stadium opened on January 14, 2021, as the first large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site in the northeast. Gillette Stadium operated seven days a week with thousands receiving vaccinations daily. Following Massachusetts' phased vaccine rollout plan, Gillette Stadium was honored to provide a safe location to expedite the vaccination of first responders and healthcare workers in its early weeks of operation, then provide vaccines to residents from throughout the Commonwealth.

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Kraft Family Delivers PPE to Healthcare Heroes

Early in the pandemic, when personal protective equipment was in dangerously short supply, the Kraft family transported more than 1.8 million respirator masks to assist those working on the frontlines against the spread of the coronavirus. They provided the Patriots 767 team plane to travel to China in early April 2020 to pick up 1.2 million masks that Governor Charlie Baker had acquired. Robert Kraft had hundreds of thousands of those masks delivered to New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic at the time, as well as Rhode Island, and coordinated the shipment of an additional 500,000 respirator masks from China the following week. Separately, Robert Kraft purchased and donated 100,000 masks to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

Kraft Family Provides 76 Healthcare Heroes a Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip to Super Bowl LV

Kraft Family Provides 76 Healthcare Heroes a Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip to Super Bowl LV

Ten months after sending the Patriots plane to China to secure and retrieve desperately needed PPE for healthcare workers, the Kraft family was once again moved by a desire to support the frontline heroes who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. On February 7, the Kraft family provided 76 vaccinated healthcare workers the trip of a lifetime to attend Super Bowl LV in Tampa, including round-trip travel on the Patriots team plane. The all-expenses paid trip included a sendoff from Boston Logan Airport with Governor Charlie Baker, Jonathan Kraft and Matthew Slater, a meet-and-greet with Robert Kraft upon arrival in Tampa, photos on the Gillette Stadium field, a complimentary two-night stay at the Renaissance at Patriot Place and tickets to the exclusive TikTok Tailgate Concert featuring Miley Cyrus. The mission of this trip was two-fold: to recognize and thank a representative group of the countless healthcare superheroes in New England, and to celebrate and spread the important message of getting vaccinated.

Gillette Stadium Serves as COVID-19 Public Safety Testing Site

Gillette Stadium Serves as COVID-19 Public Safety Testing Site

In conjunction with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Gillette Stadium opened a COVID-19 testing site for first responders and essential workers in April 2020. The testing site was available to state and municipal police and fire personnel, municipal EMS and PSAP personnel, Massachusetts National Guard on active duty and correction officers, as well as those working in essential businesses. Throughout April and May, more than 8,000 frontline and essential workers were tested at the drive-through site, which helped alleviate the burden on hospitals and medical facilities that were providing tests to the general public.

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More than 5 Million Meals Packed and Distributed through Food4Vets

In early April 2020, the Patriots and Revolution teamed up with the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation to provide "vital food packages" to veterans, military families and veteran service organizations. These packages contain non-perishable foods and nutritionist-developed recipes to provide three meals a day for two people for 14 days. However, what began as a 10-day food drive transitioned into something much bigger, as the Kraft family and Mass. Military Support Foundation stepped up to continue meeting needs in response to the pandemic.

More than 5 million meals were assembled and distributed throughout New England. The Kraft family provided space at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to help meet this demand, where food was packed and then distributed to veterans and families in need. The Patriots truck also delivered meals throughout New England, including stops in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, as well as a delivery of 84,000 meals to the city of Chelsea in May 2020 when the town was hit especially hard by the virus. Gillette Stadium also hosted multiple farmers markets with fresh produce and Soup-R Bowls with to-go containers of soup on chilly days through the Food4Vets program.

In total, more than 40 million pounds of food (packaged, frozen and fresh produce) were donated to veterans, families in need, food banks and shelters throughout New England over the course of the pandemic through this partnership with the Food4Vets program.

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