FEMA Awards Nearly $1.6 Million to Anna Maria College for COVID Testing Costs

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending almost $1.6 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse Anna Maria College for the cost of testing students, staff and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $1,593,306 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the private Catholic college in Paxton for the cost of setting up and operating a testing center on campus between January 2020 and May 2022.

Using both its own employees and contracted labor, Anna Maria College opened and operated an on-campus testing center that administered 62,987 COVID-19 tests to students, faculty, and staff.

The college also purchased and distributed 1,620 COVID-19 antigen rapid self-tests, and provided gloves, masks, gowns, thermometers, sanitizing wipes, and hand sanitizer for its testing activities.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Anna Maria College with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Reimbursing state, county, and municipal governments – as well as eligible non-profits and tribal entities – for the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation’s ongoing recovery.”

FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

So far, FEMA has provided more than $2.5 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.