Baltimore-based CFG Bank is aiming to raise $1 million to help families, workers and businesses impacted by the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, with plans to match up to $500,000 in customer donations to a relief fund.
CFG, the largest bank with headquarters in Baltimore, has launched a high-yield money market account through which customers can automatically donate 0.05% of their accrued interest through the end of the year to the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Key Bridge Fund. CFG will match up to $500,000.
CFG CEO Jack Dwyer said in an interview that he and team members came up with what they believe is a unique approach to offering assistance in the wake of the March 26 collapse of the Key Bridge, which killed six construction workers and cut off maritime access to one of the nation’s busiest ports.
The Key Bridge fund, established by the nonprofit Baltimore Community Foundation to offer relief to families, first responders, Port of Baltimore workers and small businesses, has collected more than $15.4 million so far, with donations from entities such as the Ravens, the Orioles, Verizon, and other national, regional and local businesses, and philanthropists.
CFG had previously made a corporate donation of $50,000 to the fund.
“I’m thinking, but that’s not enough. We need to do something else,” Dwyer said.
CFG, which specializes in financing for the national health care and multifamily markets, launched the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong High Yield Money Market Account in hopes of attracting new and existing depositors from around the country who will then donate a portion of interest. Accounts can be opened by retail or commercial customers both in-person or online.
“We’re trying to stimulate other people to put up the money, and what better way to do that is to tell them I’m going to match it,” Dwyer said. “What better way to accomplish raising money for people who are in need right now?”
Organizers of the Key Bridge fund said all money collected is going toward the immediate and ongoing needs of those affected.
The Baltimore Community Foundation said Wednesday that it plans to partner with the CASH Campaign of Maryland to offer direct cash assistance to workers whose jobs have been impacted by port closures. The application website and specific in-person locations are expected to be announced Friday.
To be eligible for one-time payments of $1,000 per person, individuals must have been employed at port businesses as of March 26, including union workers, independent contractors, solo owner-operators, and the self-employed who work at public and private terminals.
The cash assistance is meant to supplement funds being distributed by the state Department of Labor’s Port of Baltimore Worker Support Program.
In addition, community-based organizations can apply for grants through the Key Bridge fund to support first responders and their families, port workers and their families, and Key Bridge and port adjacent communities.
Shanaysha Sauls, the Baltimore Community Foundation’s president and CEO, said in a news release Wednesday that the need for money to pay bills and support families “is high among port workers who have been unable to return to work as usual.”
