In a week where NFL free agency is seeing millions of dollars dolled out to players, the 49ers paused Thursday morning to pledge $500,000 for their employees and community organizations amid the coronavirus pandemic hitting especially hard in the Bay Area.

An immediate $49,000 is being earmarked for nonprofits in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County.

Al Guido, the 49ers’ team president, held a press conference outside Levi’s Stadium to announce the 49ers’ philanthropic efforts. The 49ers shuttered their team facilities last Friday to all but “limited exceptions.” Santa Clara is among the Bay Area counties with shelter-in-place orders in effect.

“While the 49ers organization is talking to regional leaders to assess how we can best leverage our resources to help our friends and neighbors, we are happy to support this effort by Supervisor Chavez and Mayor Liccardo,” Guido said in a statement. “We appreciate their leadership and creating this opportunity for us to advocate for those most impacted by this situation.”

Today we stood (6-ft apart) from @SupCindyChavez and @sliccardo in shared commitment to serve others during this unprecedented public health crisis & in partnership with @comcast & @siliconvalleycf to help our community & our part-time employees to get through this. #BayAreaUnite pic.twitter.com/HcJ3DxhXzf — Al Guido (@AlGuido) March 19, 2020

Cindy Chavez, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, said: “The 49ers continue to demonstrate their commitment to our community and their employees by stepping up in this time of uncertainty, with generosity and kindness. I deeply appreciate our partnership with the 49ers.”

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The 49ers’ generosity is part of a growing trend in the NFL, if not all professional sports. Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff, a Cal product and Novato native, pledged $250,000 along with teammate Andrew Whitworth to fund two million meals for those in need in Los Angeles. Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is contributing up to $50,000 to a Cleveland-area food bank.