Diamonds Do Good Awards Industry Grants

RAPAPORT… Diamonds Do Good will hand out $150,000 in grants to support members of the industry who most need assistance with maintaining their programs, it said Tuesday.

The nonprofit, which helps develop diamond communities and empower local citizens in those areas, will distribute money to the Flaviana Matata Foundation, which supports education, entrepreneurship, youth empowerment and higher education for girls in Tanzania. It will also allocate a portion to Sentebale, which works to empower youth afflicted with HIV in Botswana.

In addition, the organization will provide funds to Canada’s Mine Training Society in the Northwest Territories. The group gives scholarships for technical training in diamond-industry jobs to the indigenous community.

For the first time, Diamonds Do Good will also contribute money outside the industry. The nonprofit will disperse $30,000 to the Brave of Heart Fund, which aids the families of healthcare workers who lost their lives to Covid-19.

“Although the Brave of Heart Fund is outside DDG’s [Diamonds Do Good] normal purview of beneficiaries, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted everyone around the world this year,” said Anna Martin, president of Diamonds Do Good. “It is only right that we do what we can to help in these unprecedented times.”

Image: A school sponsored by the Flaviana Matata Foundation. (Diamonds Do Good)