American Express : Lin-Manuel Miranda and American Express® Shine Broadway’s Lights on CODE (RED) COVID-19 Health Initiative

Under the bright lights of Broadway in New York and the powerful backing of American Express behind them, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and American Express® Chief Marketing Officer Elizabeth Rutledge announced a new initiative called CODE (RED) to help provide COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccines for people most in need.

CODE (RED) is a partnership between American Express and (RED), the organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver - 15 years ago to the day of the Hamilton event - that mobilized companies to, at first, fight the AIDS epidemic. (RED)'s efforts have now expanded to fight the urgent threat of COVID and its impact in places that are in need of desperate access to life-saving health services.

The audience at the Oct. 13 performance at the Richard Rodgers Theatre included many NYC first responders and American Express Platinum Card Members. Miranda read a special message from Bono:

"(RED)'s been fighting AIDS for years fifteen
And now we're fighting COVID-19 …

See if you're here tonight you've got the shot
But outside of America, you likely would not …

In Africa, 9 in 10 are still waiting
Which means we need to be advocating

For more shots in arms, everywhere and faster
To end this pandemic and a worse disaster"

As part of CODE (RED), American Express is empowering American Express Card Members to use Membership Rewards® points toward a donation that will support the Global Fund's COVID-19 Response Mechanism and the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). Card Members can contribute through PayPal's Pay with Rewards feature. Additionally, American Express will donate $250,000 to COVID-19 relief efforts championed by (RED) and its partners, and the company will match employee contributions to the campaign.

"While Broadway is definitely back, there are many parts of the world that are still in desperate need of access to life-saving health services, which is why I am so proud that (RED) and American Express with other great partners to launch (CODE) RED to make sure everyone, everywhere has access to COVID vaccines, to COVID testing and to COVID treatment," Rutledge said in remarks before the performance began.

Jennifer Lotito, (RED)'s President & Chief Operating Officer, added in a statement: "Global public health - from New York to Nairobi - will continue to be under threat until everyone in the world has access to COVID-19 relief. (RED) has a legacy of 15 years fighting the AIDS pandemic, and today, we're launching a new initiative to help fight COVID-19. We are so grateful to American Express for leading the charge in launching CODE (RED), its Card Members, and Lin-Manuel Miranda for supporting this fight."

To learn more, please visit https://www.codered.org/