Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has launched Emergency Grants for Pandemic Relief, a one-week fundraising initiative to provide $2 million in grants to organizations across the country affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
When traditional in-theatre fundraising and events stopped due to the closure of theatres, Broadway Cares suspended its National Grants Program for the remainder of 2020. That meant hundreds of organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., would not receive the grants traditionally awarded in the spring and summer.
Gilead Sciences Inc., the M•A•C Viva Glam Fund, ViiV Healthcare, and the P. Austin Family Foundation have stepped up to kick start the new campaign. Gilead is providing the lead gift of $500,000 and an additional $500,000 match for all new donations to the effort, bringing its commitment to $1 million. M•A•C Viva Glam Fund has provided $300,000; ViiV Healthcare has donated $250,000; and the P. Austin Family Foundation $100,000 toward the initiative.
The Emergency Grants for Pandemic Relief effort allows many of those organizations to now receive partial funding. These organizations are providing essential outreach, medical services, emergency help, direct services, and harm reduction programs to those most in need and often forgotten.
Donate at BroadwayCares.org/relief2020. The dollar-for-dollar match by Gilead and the fundraising campaign ends midnight May 13.
"Few organizations have touched as many lives of people living with HIV/AIDS as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS,” said Amy Flood, senior vice president, at Gilead Sciences. “The COVID-19 pandemic is shuttering community organizations and pushing our health care system to its capacity. This means communities affected by HIV/AIDS face more obstacles than ever to access the health care services they need. We are proud to do our part, and humbled to stand alongside the talented artists who have been supporting the HIV community for years."
“Thanks to the generosity of Gilead, the M•A•C Viva Glam Fund, ViiV Healthcare, and the P. Austin Family Foundation, Broadway Cares will be able to make a difference for so many organizations we have supported in the past and that are overwhelmed today with requests for help,” Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola added. “Although this $2 million in emergency grants will be less than the $3.4 million we would have awarded in normal circumstances this spring and summer, these interim grants serve as a sincere promise that Broadway Cares stands with you and will be back with support in 2021.”
In addition to the Emergency Grants for Pandemic Relief, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised nearly $4 million so far through its ongoing COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund for The Actors Fund.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is 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/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
