IKEA Plans To Donate More Than $2M, Amount Employees Got In Unemployment, To Md., DC Nonprofits
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- IKEA reportedly plans to donate more than $2.1 million, the amount its employees got in state unemployment benefits during store closures and furloughs, to nonprofits in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas.
The IKEA US Community Foundation offered $2,136,346 to the state, according to Rep. David Trone's office.
Mike Ricci, a spokesperson for Gov. Larry Hogan, said the furniture retailer reached out to the state to see where it could donate the money. The governor's office then connected the foundation with Baltimore's Promise and the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
In a letter to Hogan Tuesday, Trone wrote some of the money should be reinvested into the state's unemployment system.
"The IKEA Foundation indicated in their letter that they would like to see these funds used for the greatest public benefit," Trone wrote. "Based on the significant financial hardship the wait time for fact-finding interviews has caused, reinvesting some or all of this funding towards additional staffing to quickly address this backlog would be a tremendous benefit for many Marylanders waiting to receive this vital lifeline."
Baltimore's Promise works to improve outcomes for city children while the Greater Washington Community Foundation focuses on community leadership and civic engagement.
IKEA has two Maryland stores, one in White Marsh and one in College Park.