4/2 Update: The biggest names in entertainment are helping the smallest names in business

Verizon PayItForward LIVE connects big names to small businesses, offering streaming entertainment to those at home and financial support to those small businesses in need. Every Tuesday and Thursday, tune-in to Verizon PayitForwardLIVE on Verizon’s Twitter, Yahoo or Twitch pages to view that night’s performance. To support small businesses, use the hashtag #PayitForwardLIVE – and for each mention, Verizon will donate additional money to LISC.org to support small businesses, up to $2.5 million.

4/2 Update: Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic to perform on Verizon’s Pay It Forward Live Tonight

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.

3/31 Update: Verizon teams up with Faze Clan to expand Pay It Forward Live into gaming

Verizon will expand Pay It Forward Live, the weekly streaming entertainment series that includes music, gaming, comedy and more in support of small businesses affected by COVID-19, with its first gaming event on Tuesday, March 31. Marshmello and FaZe Clan’s Nate Hill will go head to head in a game of Fortnite during the 45-minute event which will stream live at 8:00 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST on Twitch, Twitter @verizon, Yahoo Entertainment and on Fios Channel 501.

The duo will not only play, but also surprise some of their favorite local businesses, engage with viewers, and create small-business-themed in-game experiences – all while encouraging viewers to support local businesses in their own communities and to use the hashtag #PayitForwardLIVE to unlock funds from Verizon to support small businesses on both Twitch and Twitter.

“So many of us have been affected by the COVID-19 virus, and now more than ever we need to stand together and help each other. I’m proud to be teaming up with Verizon & Nate Hill to help small businesses,” said Marshmello. “As a musician a lot of my business is supported by the men and women in local communities and their businesses who help bring shows and festivals to life and who are now out of work for an unknown amount of time. Let’s Pay It Forward and help them now!”

“The COVID-19 virus has taken a toll on many of us, small businesses especially,” says FaZe Clan’s Nate Hill. “I am proud FaZe Clan is teaming up with Verizon to help small businesses in need. As a gamer, I rely on these companies like local restaurants for food every day. I am honored to take part in the Pay It Forward initiative alongside Marshmello and help those in need.”

3/26 Update: Pay It Forward Live launches with Dave Matthews

Pay It Forward Live launched on March 26 with an intimate, at home performance with Dave Matthews. Additional performers and partners will be announced soon. More information can be found at Verizon.com/PayItForwardLive.

Verizon has donated $2.5 million to Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s (LISC) small business COVID-19 relief efforts. Throughout the Pay It Forward Live series, up to an additional $2.5 million will be unlocked, $10 for each use of the hashtag #PayItForwardLive, as viewers pledge support for their favorite small businesses, bringing the potential donation to a total of $5 million. LISC will use the funds to provide grants of up to $10,000 to businesses facing immediate financial pressure because of COVID-19, especially entrepreneurs of color, women-owned businesses and other enterprises that don’t have access to flexible, affordable capital in historically underserved communities. All information, along with a link to apply for grants, can be found here.

Verizon is also giving its own customers an easy way to support small businesses by leveraging their customer loyalty program, Verizon Up, which will give members the ability to use their monthly reward for a Visa eGift card to use to support small businesses throughout the month of April.

The funds from Pay it Forward Live are in addition to Verizon’s combined $14 million donation to nonprofits directed at supporting students and healthcare first responders, including No Kid Hungry, the American Red Cross, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) COVID-19 Response Fund, Direct Relief, and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund in support of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s global response.

Verizon’s support for small business also includes adding 15GB of high speed data for wireless consumer and small business customers to be automatically applied with no customer action necessary; providing first responders with priority and preemption abilities for voice and data and no data caps for consumer and small business Fios and DSL broadband internet plans.