Theatrical nonprofit Broadway Cares has awarded $2,827,500 in grants to 141 food service and meal delivery programs nationwide. The record-breaking grants, awarded February 2, were funded via the organization's fall Red Bucket fundraising campaign, conducted in-theatre at Broadway, Off-Broadway, and national touring shows.
The fall 2022 campaign raised $5,107,791 in total., which includes a staggering $2,002,612 raised by the Hugh Jackman- and Sutton Foster-led revival of The Music Man alone. The show's fundraising total was bolstered by screen star Nicole Kidman's record-breaking $100,000 donation in a post-show auction for Jackman's straw hat, the highest single donation from any auction in Broadway Cares' history.
“Food is medicine,” says Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola in a statement. “Whether you need it to ensure the effectiveness of daily medication for HIV or other chronic illness, are recovering from the challenges of long-term disability or homelessness, or simply to sustain your own well-being, regular meals and sustained nutrition is necessary for people to live dignified, healthy lives. The ultimate beneficiaries of the grants—the hundreds of thousands served by the organizations—will be relieved not having to decide between food or utility bills, freed from isolation thanks to daily home-delivered lunches, and warmed by the joy of seeing their children fed.”
Among the organizations receiving portions of the grants are AIDS Circle of Hope of North Central Texas in Wichita Falls. The volunteer-run organization offers a food pantry twice a month serving 11 counties. Broadway Cares' donation will cover their entire annual budget. Donations also went to God's Love We Deliver in New York City, supporting their work providing more than 13,000 meals every week day to people living across NYC's boroughs and the neighboring communities.
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 HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and other critical illnesses across the United States.
Visit BroadwayCares.org.
