WS Chronicle

Greater Gift recently announced donations to local agencies committed to diversity in honor of participants in the COVID-19 Community Research Partnership Study. Greater Gift is donating $2,000 to The Twenty to encourage volunteers to complete daily symptom surveys. Greater Gift donated $2,000 to The Twenty when 3 million entries were received.  

Executive Director Lilly Skok Bunch stated, “Greater Gift is passionate about engaging underrepresented populations in clinical research and building trustworthiness to populations who traditionally and understandably are reluctant to participate in clinical research. We recognize the significant impact that The Twenty is having on supporting testing and prevention efforts in the Black community during the COVID pandemic and are proud to support their outreach.” 

The COVID-19 Community Research Partnership is working to gather data through a multi-site study sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and led by Wake Forest Baptist Health. The study encourages volunteers to report daily exposures, symptoms, risk-reduction behaviors such as wearing a mask, and whether they have received a flu or COVID-19 vaccine. Over 22,000 clinical trial volunteers are completing daily online questionnaires to track possible exposures and symptoms. 

The Twenty, founded five years ago, is a group of committed Black businesspersons working through 20 committees to close the wealth gap in East Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. By building collaborations within the community, The Twenty’s Healthcare and Wellness Committee has worked to increase understanding of COVID-19 testing and vaccine engagement. 

Bunch said, “As the Community Research Partnership Study aims to better understand COVID-19, Greater Gift wants to honor organizations like The Twenty to increase understanding of COVID-19 and build trust within Black communities.”