Month: June 2026

Direct Relief is sending over a quarter million N95 respirators donated by 3M to help protect health workers on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak, responding to widespread PPE shortages reported across eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The donation, which also includes eye protection and protective coveralls donated by 3M, is the largest announced shipment of N95s to date in response to the Ebola crisis.

On Friday, a shipment of 75,000 N95 respirators left Direct Relief’s California warehouse headed to Bunia, capital of DRC’s Ituri province, where the Ebola outbreak is centered. Another batch containing 188,000 N95s is set to ship early this week.

Friday’s shipment also contained essential medicines, including antibiotics, deworming treatments, medications for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, gastrointestinal drugs, oral rehydration salts, and water purification supplies.

In late May, Direct Relief shipped $2.5 million in medicine and medical supplies to treat patients, help protect health workers, and limit the spread of the disease. The shipment to Jericho Road’s Wellness Clinic in Goma included PPE, antibiotics, diagnostics, supportive care medications, chronic disease medications, and field infrastructure and safety equipment.

A Two-Sided Ebola Response Strategy: Protecting Providers, Maintaining Primary Care

An Ebola outbreak kills people in two ways. In addition to deaths from the disease itself, many die from loss of access to primary medical care. In the 2014–15 West Africa outbreak, more than 10,000 people died from malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis – not Ebola – because clinics shut down, people stopped seeking care out of fear, and health systems buckled under the strain. That death toll nearly matched the 11,325 lives Ebola itself claimed in the outbreak.

“An effective Ebola response has to do two things at once: contain the virus, and help the broader health system keep functioning,” said Dr. Jeffrey Samuel, a clinical pharmacist and Direct Relief’s regional director for Africa. “That is why Direct Relief is delivering not only PPE and supportive care medicines for Ebola, but also medicines and supplies that help partners continue primary care, chronic disease care, maternal health services, and other essential healthcare during the outbreak.”

Working With VillageReach for Last-Mile Delivery in DRC

To help ensure the supplies reach the people who need them, Direct Relief is delivering the two large shipments to VillageReach, a global health non-profit working in the DRC and across Africa to transform health care delivery to reach everyone. VillageReach will coordinate the distribution with the National Public Health Institute of DRC’s Ministry of Public Health, to ensure these critical resources reach frontline health workers at the last mile – enabling them to safely continue providing care and helping to limit the spread of the virus.

VillageReach will train and mobilize 600 community health workers and facilitators for early case detection and contact tracing, strengthen diagnostics through secure transport of lab samples, maintain routine immunization services, and work with district and community leaders to reinforce local engagement and reduce the Ebola misinformation that leads some people to avoid treatment.

Direct Relief worked closely with VillageReach on the Covid-19 Action Fund for Africa, which delivered more than 121 million pieces of PPE across Africa between 2020 and 2022 – including 94 million face masks – to help protect community health workers from Covid-19 and enable them to continue their vital work.

“The arrival of this PPE is critical to protecting frontline health workers and stopping the spread of Ebola,” said VillageReach’s DRC Country Director Freddy Nkosi. “Working alongside the Ministry of Health, and with support from Direct Relief, VillageReach is helping ensure these supplies reach the last mile—so health workers can safely continue providing essential care to their communities.”

Maintaining Life-Sustaining Diabetes Care

Direct Relief is preparing shipments for two partners in eastern DRC that provide care to people with diabetes. This includes a shipment to Association des Diabetiques du Congo, or ADIC, to protect health staff at their Goma diabetes clinic and their network of healthcare providers in North Kivu and South Kivu, as well as a shipment to Kivu Diabetes Center to support healthcare staff at their clinic in Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province.

Since 2023, Direct Relief has provided $17.5 million in medical support to ADIC, including diabetes management supplies such as insulin, needles, test strips, and refrigerators for cold storage of temperature-sensitive medications. Since late 2025, Direct Relief has provided Kivu Diabetes Center with insulin, blood glucose monitors, and testing supplies, and three medical refrigerators for cold-chain storage.

On June 12, Direct Relief delivered an additional large shipment of diabetes medicine to Jericho Road’s Wellness Clinic in Goma. The shipment, valued at $4,721,310, contained more than 13,300 bottles of oral medications for managing type 2 diabetes and blood sugar.

South Sudan Aid

Direct Relief is arranging two shipments of PPE and essential medicine to the International Organization for Migration in South Sudan. While no Ebola cases have been confirmed in South Sudan, health authorities consider the country at high risk because of cross-border population movement with affected areas in DRC’s Ituri province.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 16, 2026 /3BL/ – Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) announced that its board appointed Catherine Bessant to join as a director. Bessant will serve on the board’s risk committee.

“We’re delighted to welcome Cathy, with her deep experience in financial services and philanthropy to the Truist board of directors,” said Truist Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers. “Cathy’s impressive track record of purpose-driven leadership and successful digital, technology and operational transformation on a global scale will serve Truist, our teammates, clients and stakeholders well.”

Bessant, inducted into American Banker’s “Most Powerful Women in Banking” Hall of Fame in 2020 after multiple years ranked number one for industry influence and execution, most recently served as CEO of Foundation For The Carolinas, one of the largest community foundations in the U.S.

“I look forward to working alongside the Truist board to help advance the company’s strategic direction and purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities,” said Bessant. “I’m honored to join the board of such a great franchise in this exciting moment of industry transformation.”

Culminating a distinguished four-decade career at Bank of America, Bessant retired as vice chair, global strategy, and as a member of the company’s executive management team. Prior to that, she was chief operations and technology officer, where she led the company’s business continuity and information security strategies and policies. Earlier in her career, Bessant held numerous senior leadership roles, including president, global corporate banking; president, global product solutions and global treasury services; chief marketing officer; president, consumer real estate and community development banking; national small business segment executive; and president of the Florida market.

Bessant serves on the board of directors of Zurich Insurance Group and is on the advisory board for—and a graduate of—the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She’s also the immediate past chair of the USA Field Hockey board of directors. Locally in the Queen City, she formerly chaired the North Tryon Vision Plan Advisory Committee and served as co-chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy.

About Truist
Truist Financial Corporation is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist has leading market share in many of the high-growth markets in the U.S. and offers a wide range of products and services through wholesale and consumer businesses, including consumer and small business banking, commercial and corporate banking, investment banking and capital markets, wealth management, payments, and specialized lending businesses. Truist is a top-10 commercial bank with total assets of $549 billion as of March 31, 2026. Truist Bank, Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Learn more at Truist.com.

Originally published on CVS Health Company Newsroom

KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 16, 2026 /3BL/ – Aetna Better Health of Missouri, a CVS Health company (NYSE: CVS), announced new collaborations with five local community-based organizations to support better health outcomes in the Kansas City area. Through donations totaling $130,000, Aetna is helping fund initiatives that address nutrition, mental health, maternal health and health-related social needs, reinforcing its commitment to building healthier communities.

“At Aetna Better Health of Missouri, we’re committed to supporting communities by collaborating with trusted organizations that are deeply rooted in Kansas City,” said Lisa Baird, CEO of Aetna Better Health of Missouri. “Through these local relationships, we can connect individuals and families to the care, resources and support they need—helping address health care needs and the factors that influence health so they can thrive.”

Donation Recipients and Community Impact

University of Missouri Kansas City Foundation will use the funds to support the FoodFARMacy initiative, a partnership between the UMKC Community Health Nutrition Lab and University Health’s Community Health Strategies department, which addresses community nutritional needs within the context of health care. Families receive culturally specific produce, recipes, and nutrition education, while trained FoodFARMacy coaches from community-based partner agencies across Kansas City encourage participants to adopt consistent, healthy eating habits. According to the latest Missouri State Health Assessment, Missouri ranked 16th out of 50 states for the highest rate of adult obesity, highlighting the urgent need for nutrition-focused interventions.

“FoodFARMacy is a powerful example of how health care and community organizations can work together to address social determinants of health,” said Charlie Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer of University Health. “This support from Aetna will help us reach more families and make a lasting difference in their lives.”

Whole Parent Foundation works to provide access to compassionate mental health care for parents and caregivers, offering support groups and wraparound services for those experiencing mental health struggles related to expanding their families. The funding from Aetna will enable the organization to expand its program from one main hub to eight locations across Missouri, increasing access to vital mental health resources.

Nurture KC, through its Kansas City Healthy Start Initiative, deploys Community Health Workers to provide one-on-one support to families with infants up to 18 months old. The funding will support care coordination, resource navigation, health education and social support for program participants in the Kansas City area.

HCC Network, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), serves patients in west central rural Missouri through a network of six clinics offering medical, dental and behavioral health services. Funding will support Social Determinants of Health screens to evaluate needed resources and support for patients.

Bothwell Regional Health Center provides a full range of diagnostic, medical and surgical services to patients in west-central Missouri. The funding will support the addition of a care coordinator aligned to the ToRCH program, which addresses social care challenges that compromise individuals’ ability to maintain their health and effectively manage chronic conditions.

Aetna’s collaboration with these organizations demonstrates its ongoing commitment to improving health outcomes and addressing the social factors that influence well-being in the Kansas City region.

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About Aetna Medicaid

Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC (Aetna Medicaid), a CVS Health company, has over 30 years of experience managing the care of Medicaid members, using innovative approaches and a local presence in each market to achieve both successful health care results and effective cost outcomes. Aetna Medicaid has expertise serving high-need Medicaid members, including those who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. Currently, Aetna Medicaid owns and/or administers Medicaid managed health care plans under the names of Aetna Better Health and other affiliate names. Together, these plans serve members in 15 states, including Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information, see www.aetnabetterhealth.com.

About CVS Health

CVS Health is a leading health solutions company building a world of health around every consumer, wherever they are. As of December 31, 2025, the Company had approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations, more than 1,000 walk-in and primary care medical clinics and a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 87 million plan members. The Company also serves an estimated more than 37 million people through traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including highly rated Medicare Advantage offerings and a leading standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. The Company’s integrated model uses personalized, technology driven services to connect people to simply better health, increasing access to quality care, delivering better outcomes, and lowering overall costs.

Media contact

Monica Prinzing
Monica.Prinzing@CVSHealth.com

It starts with used garments and fabric offcuts – materials that have already served their original purpose.

In this example, a maker takes them apart and reshapes them into a new item: a functional bag. The process highlights a practical approach to reuse, showing how materials may remain usable beyond their first application, depending on how they are handled.

See how existing materials can be reworked into new forms and what this might mean for reuse: Offcuts don’t mean leftovers. See how existing #GORETEX gear is upcycled into a functional bag.

About Gore’s Fabrics Business
Gore introduced GORE-TEX® Fabric to the outerwear industry more than 45 years ago and continues to develop performance apparel technologies. Gore’s Fabrics products provide comfort and protection in challenging environments and in everyday life, enabling wearers to safely and confidently achieve and experience more. From hiking in downpours to defense operations and fighting fires, Gore’s deep understanding of consumer and industry needs drives development of products with meaningful performance advantages.
https://www.gore-tex.com and https://www.goretexprofessional.com/

About Gore
W. L. Gore & Associates is a global materials science company dedicated to transforming industries and improving lives. Since 1958, Gore has solved complex technical challenges in demanding environments – from outer space to the world’s highest peaks to the inner workings of the human body. With more than 13,000 Associates and a strong, team-oriented culture, Gore generates annual revenues of $5 billion.
For more information, visit gore.com.

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Products listed may not be available in all markets.
GORE, GORE-TEX, Together, improving life and designs are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates.
© 2026 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 16, 2026 /3BL/ – SCS Standards and Assurance Systems today announced the launch of the Certification Standard for Responsible Chemical Recycling (SCS-004), the first independent standard of its kind. Concurrently, SCS Global Services launched a certification program underpinned by the standard, allowing chemical recycling facilities that process hard-to-recycle materials to transparently communicate their responsible practices to the marketplace — helping to keep plastics in circulation and out of the environment.

Mechanical recycling alone can’t handle the volume, complexity, or contamination levels of the world’s plastic waste problem. As a result, most plastics still end up in landfills, incinerators, or the environment. Chemical recycling is part of the solution. The novel technologies break down hard-to-recycle plastics into raw materials that are reintroduced into supply chains to make new products. Without independent verification, however, the brands that sell these products have had no way to confirm that the chemical recyclers they source from are measuring, monitoring, and reporting their environmental and social impacts honestly and transparently.

“Brands are under real pressure to deliver on recycled-content commitments, and chemical recycling is part of how that gets done. But we need to have confidence that the recycling process is done in a responsible way,” said Victoria Norman, Executive Director of SCS Standards and Assurance Systems. “SCS-004 gives procurement and sustainability teams a rigorous, independently verified framework for knowing that the chemically recycled materials they source come from recycling operations that meet clear standards for environmental and social performance and operational transparency.”

The certification defines what responsible chemical recycling looks like and, through a tiered certification system, recognizes progress, ensures transparency, and drives continuous environmental and social performance improvement. Certification is structured across three levels:

• Core — Foundational requirements covering management systems, operational permits, chain of custody transparency, and social and environmental reporting.
• Plus — Demonstrating continuous improvement in social and environmental performance, relative to established baselines.
• Trailblazer — Category-specific recognition for best-in-class performance across risk assurance, transparency and disclosure, water stewardship, zero waste, and social impact.

“Chemical recyclers have been asking for a credible way to demonstrate responsible practices. SCS’ Responsible Chemical Recycling Certification provides a pathway to effectively communicate to the market and provide a vetted transparent solution to addressing plastic waste,” said John Parker, Managing Director, Energy, Biomaterials and Circularity at SCS Global Services. “With decades of experience certifying recycling operations, biofuels and chemicals, and responsible manufacturing, SCS Global Services is uniquely positioned to service this industry.”

Certification applies to organizations conducting pyrolysis, methanolysis, solvolysis, depolymerization, gasification, and other advanced, chemical, or molecular recycling technologies globally. Certification requirements span chain of custody and mass balance accounting, feedstock sourcing, energy intensity and greenhouse gas calculations, atmospheric emissions reporting, waste and water management, life cycle assessment, human rights commitments, and community engagement.

The standard was initiated by the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network (now CIRCLE) following the U.S. Plastics Pact’s 2024 Responsible Production Guidelines for Advanced, Chemical and Molecular Recycling, and developed through a multistakeholder process engaging chemical recyclers, supply chain partners, brands, and civil society. It references and builds on internationally recognized frameworks including the GHG Protocol, ISO 14040/44/67, ISO 22095/-2, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

To download a copy of SCS-004, visit the SCS Standards website: Certification Standard for Responsible Chemical Recycling | SCS Standards

Chemical recyclers seeking certification can visit the SCS Global Services website: Responsible Chemical Recycling Certification | SCS Global Services

About SCS Standards and Assurance Systems

SCS Standards and Assurance Systems is an organization committed to the development of standards that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Standards are developed in alignment with best practices and guidelines provided by internationally recognized bodies to ensure a robust, transparent, and collaborative approach. For more information, visit www.SCSstandards.org.   

About SCS Global Services

SCS Global Services is an international leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development. Its programs span a cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in climate mitigation, green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, consumer products, and more. Headquartered in Emeryville, California and celebrating over 40 years in business, SCS has representatives and affiliate offices throughout the Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Africa. Its broad network of auditors are experts in their fields, and the company is a trusted partner to companies, agencies, and advocacy organizations due to its dedication to quality and professionalism. SCS is a chartered Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. SCS is also a Participant of the United Nations Global Compact and adheres to its principles-based approach to responsible business. For more information, visit www.SCSGlobalServices.com.

Media Contact

Rachel Barnhart
Director, Corporate Communications and Public Relations 
SCS Global Services 
Email: rbarnhart@scsglobalservices.com