The Red Tab Foundation (RTF) raised a record-breaking $2.9 million in fiscal year 2023, the most ever given by the Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) community, according to its annual report.
Funded by Levi’s employees and retirees worldwide, descendants of Levi Strauss and other company shareholders, the public nonprofit foundation serves as a safety net for LS&Co. employees, retirees and their families. RTF provides aide for unexpected financial hardships like natural disasters, loss of income, healthcare costs, eviction and more.
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Despite economic uncertainty, employees donated over $1.4 million to the foundation in 2023.
RTF distributed $3.3 million across 3,246 grants during the year, up from $2.2 million the prior year. The average grant amount was $1,276. Retirees received $1.3 million of the total grants—the most ever, according to the report.
Individuals in the U.S. and Cananda received $2.55 million in grants. RTF’s reach is expanding, however. In FY23, the foundation offered grants to employees in Thailand, Scotland and Sweden for the first time. In Europe, it offered 185 grants, up from 57 the year before, totaling $206,0000.
Meanwhile, in South Africa RTF’s support as has increased more than nine-fold since 2019, according to the report. In 2023, the foundation supported 280 families there through 667 grants.
Those in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa received $304,000 in grants, followed by East Asia PAC with $153,000, Latin America with $69,000 and Greater China with $39,000.
Last spring, RTF offered help to 311 employees in Beijing and across China when Levi’s stores were closed for weeks due to an outbreak of Covid-19. The foundation also stepped in to provide grants to individuals affected by the catastrophic earthquakes in Turkey this year.
In the report, RTF said it is making progress with efforts to provide education and preventative programs that help individuals maintain their financial health. Through Red Tab Savers, a program that incentives individuals to save their money through the QUBER app, employees saved $203,000 of their own dollars in 2023.
Looking ahead, the foundation said it will focus on providing tools for long-term financial help so assistance is no longer needed. The organization also pledges to “address root causes sooner” through short-term cash assistance on urgent and unexpected situations. It also plans to develop a process to identify and assistant applicants who need “repeat assistance due to chronic financial instability.”
