Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awarded $1.5 million in emergency grants to support 148 food service organizations nationwide, helping ensure meals and essential nutrition for millions affected by the federal government’s uncertainty in providing November 2025’s SNAP benefits. This unprecedented round of grantmaking was made possible by the generosity and compassion of the theater community and its audiences.

The emergency grants are being distributed to the food pantries, meal delivery services and congregate meal programs that are part of Broadway Cares’ National Grants Program. While these organizations received annual support  totaling $2.9 million during the February food grants round,  these one-time additional grants represent an additional 50% of what they received earlier this year, offering lifesaving assistance and essential meals at this critical moment.

“The organizations we support across the country were already stretched thin from budget cuts and lost funding,” said Danny Whitman, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. “This new heartbreaking blow to SNAP benefits means even more people are reaching out for help. Thanks to the generosity of our theater community – those onstage, backstage and in the audience – these emergency grants will immediately provide warm, nutritious meals to countless individuals and families in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.”

Robert E. Wankel, president of the Broadway Cares Board of Trustees and chairman and CEO of The Shubert Organization, said: “In moments of profound uncertainty, whether it’s families losing access to food because of reduced SNAP benefits or communities devastated by natural disasters, Broadway steps forward with action. The theater community has always met crises with care, ensuring hope reaches those who need it most.”In the face of disaster or emergency need, Broadway Cares, on behalf of the entire theater community, consistently steps up to provide support to organizations providing on-the-ground help. Previous emergency grants have supported recovery efforts after natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires; helped ensure access to critical reproductive health care and provided humanitarian and pandemic relief across the country and around the world.

Search Broadway Cares’ grantees by state.