Broadway Cares has awarded $500,000 in emergency grants to help those in the Los Angeles area affected by the ongoing wildfires devastating the region.
The non-profit has sent $250,000 to the Entertainment Community Fund, $100,000 to the California Fire Foundation Wildfire & Disaster Relief Fund, $100,000 to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and $50,000 to longtime Broadway Cares grantee Project Angel Food. All four organizations are providing on-the-ground support
for residents and first responders.
“In times of crisis, the theatre community, with Broadway Cares as its philanthropic heart, has always been a beacon of resilience and collective strength,” stated Robert E. Wankel, Broadway Cares Board of Trustees president and chairman and CEO of The Shubert Organization. “These wildfires have left deep scars, but they’ve also ignited a powerful wave of support from Broadway to the West Coast.”
Broadway Cares Executive Director Danny Whitman added, “Our compassionate community knows the power of coming together in times of need. Because of the generosity of the theatre community—those onstage, backstage, and in the audience—these emergency grants will immediately provide meals, shelter, medical care, clothing, and emergency financial assistance, all first steps on the long road toward recovering, rebuilding, and healing.”
Thousands of residents have been displaced following the catastrophic fires that began January 7. The wildfires, which have forced the cancellation of several concerts and theatrical events, have since burned more than 40,000 acres, nearly three times the size of Manhattan.
Broadway Cares s one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares has awarded more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
Visit BroadwayCares.org.