Verizon Business honors small businesses helping frontline healthcare workers in New York City

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., April 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ryan Tedder, Grammy® winning songwriter, producer and lead singer of the multi-platinum selling band OneRepublic, will perform on Pay It Forward Live , Verizon’s weekly streaming entertainment series in support of small businesses affected by COVID-19, on Thursday, April 2. The performance, which will take place in his home, will stream live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Twitter @Verizon , Yahoo and Fios Channel 501.

“As we’re all feeling right now, small businesses are a huge part of our daily lives,” said Ryan Tedder. “I’m grateful that I am able to take part in an initiative to help lessen the impact of this crisis.”

Over the course of Pay It Forward Live , viewers are encouraged to tag their favorite local businesses and do what they can to support them - shop online, make a purchase in advance for when the crisis is over and the businesses reopen, or order a meal. Verizon will also donate $10 to support small businesses, up to $2.5 million, when the hashtag #PayItForwardLive is used.

Verizon is also giving consumers as many ways to support small businesses as possible, including partnering with PayPal and Square to give Pay It Forward Live viewers the ability to support small businesses within the live streams.

Helping Small Businesses and the Frontlines

Expanding its commitment to small businesses, this week Verizon Business will pay it forward to a number of small businesses preparing daily meals to feed healthcare workers. This program brings together multiple New York City restaurants with six area hospitals in an effort to help both the restaurants’ workers and hospital staff on the front line providing care to patients. Meals are being provided seven days a week throughout the month of April, at no cost to the hospitals or their employees. The ordering and delivery process is managed by Grubhub which donated its service to help this cause.

“Healthcare workers are physically and emotionally putting themselves on the front line of the fight against COVID-19,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business Group. “And for small businesses - especially restaurants - the impact of social distancing is real. This is an opportunity to bring these groups together, providing a purpose and resources to continue supporting restaurants, and a small gesture of thanks and comfort for hospital and emergency workers in New York City.”

Participating restaurants include: Blue Restaurant , Bella Notte , Dino , Dosa Royale , Locksmith Bar and Mimi Cheng’s . Medical centers receiving food include: Maimonides Medical Center and Hospital for Special Surgery.

Verizon is planning to scale these efforts, with continued support from Grubhub, to help as many as possible in our backyard and beyond. Verizon is urging companies in other cities to support similar efforts to fund local restaurants’ efforts to feed healthcare workers.



To date, Verizon is supporting communities through a combined $20 million donation to nonprofits directed at serving students, healthcare first responders, and small businesses. To find out more about what Verizon is doing to help customers and small businesses, visit verizon.com/about/news/our-response-coronavirus.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is celebrating its 20th year as one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $131.9 billion in 2019. The company offers voice, data and video services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.

About Ryan Tedder:

Grammy winning songwriter and producer, Ryan Tedder, has worked with everyone from Adele to Paul McCartney, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift, in addition to being the lead singer of the multi-platinum selling band OneRepublic. Most recently, Ryan co-wrote and co-produced P!nk’s new song “Can We Pretend,” and The Jonas Brother’s new songs, “Sucker” and “Cool,” as well as serving as executive producer on their album, “Happiness Begins.” As a producer, Ryan received the Grammy award for “Album of the Year” for the Albums 21, 1989, and 25.As a songwriter, Ryan just received the National Music Publishers’ Association’s Songwriter Icon Award at the NMPA annual meeting, as well as the Diamond Award certified by the RIAA. Ryan is also a producer and mentor on the NBC show, Songland, which returns for season two on April 13th.

OneRepublic released their debut set Dreaming Out Loud in 2007. The release included the multi-platinum-selling smash single “Apologize,” which shattered digital sales and airplay records worldwide and received a Grammy Award nomination. The band’s sophomore album, 2009’s Waking Up, produced the hit singles “All the Right Moves,” “Secrets” and “Good Life.” The certified-platinum album Native followed in 2013, featuring the No.1 hit and 33 million plus-selling single “Counting Stars,” along with a worldwide tour. OneRepublic released Oh My My, their fourth full-length album in 2016. This past spring, the band released “Start Again ft. Logic,” a song featured on the soundtrack for the Netflix drama 13 Reasons and “Connection” which was part of FCA’s Summer of Jeep campaign. OneRepublic’s new songs “Wanted”, “Rescue Me”, “Somebody To Love”, “Didn’t I” and “Better Days” from their upcoming album HUMAN are out now.



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Media contacts:

Kevin King

kevin.king@verizon.com



Katie Magnotta

katie.magnotta@verizon.com

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