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Utah Jazz Foundation partners with Airbnb.org to house refugees fleeing Ukraine

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Key Takeaways

  • The Utah Jazz Foundation is partnering with Airbnb.org to provide more than 32,200 nights of temporary housing to refugees fleeing Ukraine
  • The commitment will support Airbnb.org’s initiative to offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing from Ukraine into Poland, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and other surrounding countries

Key Takeaways

  • The Utah Jazz Foundation is partnering with Airbnb.org to provide more than 32,200 nights of temporary housing to refugees fleeing Ukraine
  • The commitment will support Airbnb.org’s initiative to offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing from Ukraine into Poland, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and other surrounding countries

The Utah Jazz Foundation announced a contribution to Airbnb.org – an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in moments of crisis – in support of their ongoing effort to provide housing to refugees fleeing Ukraine. The Utah Jazz Foundation’s donation would fund more than 32,200 nights of housing for Ukrainian refugees – equivalent to nearly double the capacity of the Jazz’s own home arena.

“Connection and community have never been more important than it is today. Millions of people have been forced to leave behind their entire lives in Ukraine. Airbnb.org is connecting host families with refugees in need, creating safe havens when so many communities are being torn apart.

The Utah Jazz Foundation is honored to partner with Airbnb.org to fund stays for refugees who have fled Ukraine, enough to fill every seat right here in our own house – Vivint Arena – two times over. And we can’t stop there. I encourage every organization to support Airbnb.org’s important initiative, to magnify their impact and house enough refugees to fill their arenas or workplaces.”

Ryan Smith, executive chairman and co-founder of Qualtrics and owner of the Utah Jazz

Last week, Airbnb.org announced its commitment to offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. These stays will be funded by Airbnb, Inc., donors to Airbnb.org – including the Utah Jazz Foundation – and the generosity of Hosts through Airbnb.org.

“I cannot begin to express my thanks to the Utah Jazz Foundation for their support of Airbnb.org’s work. This incredible commitment will play a meaningful role in helping us meet our goal of providing free, temporary housing to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine – offering not only a roof over their heads, but also a safe place to gather and regroup.”

Joe Gebbia, Airbnb co-founder and chairman of Airbnb.org

The Utah Jazz Foundation encourages Jazz Nation to join them in this massive effort to help those fleeing Ukraine. Anyone interested in supporting Airbnb.org’s initiative to provide housing to refugees – including by offering free or discounted stays or donating – can go to airbnb.org/help-ukraine to get involved.
Read more about: Ukraine

About the Utah Jazz Foundation

The Utah Jazz Foundation is dedicated to supporting educational opportunity, social justice, economic empowerment, healthcare access, civic engagement, and other impactful community causes. During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, the Utah Jazz Foundation instituted a program providing a full cost-of-attendance scholarship for a student from an underrepresented group for every Jazz win. The foundation is the charitable arm of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Utah Jazz. For more information on the Utah Jazz, visit www.utahjazz.com.

About Airbnb 

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals across over 220 countries and regions. Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and one-of-a-kind activities that make it possible for guests to experience the world in a more authentic, connected way. Providing hosted travel and the ability to live anywhere on a global scale, Airbnb has become a noun and a verb and most traffic to our platform remains organic. We will continue to invest in innovations that expand the travel market and lead the way in turning travel into a way of life.

About Airbnb.org

Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.’s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org’s charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.

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