The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS food grants committee of actors and stage managers met January 24, 2019, and awarded $2,143,000 to 125 organizations nationwide, ensuring healthy meals will continue being served to the most vulnerable among us.

“These food service grants from Broadway Cares will reach hundreds of thousands of men, women and children across the country living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illness while struggling with diminished community resources, personal crises and economic uncertainty,” Executive Director Tom Viola said.

Thanks to the tireless commitment from the Broadway community and its supporters, Broadway Cares was able to increase the level of grant-making by $128,000 over last year’s record.

Half of this increase went to the nation’s leading meal delivery organizations in 13 metropolitan areas. These meal delivery programs were founded to support those homebound and living with HIV/AIDS, and have expanded their missions to deliver meals to anyone homebound with a debilitating illness. The organizations are Community Servings in Boston; Food & Friends in Washington, D.C.; Food Outreach in St. Louis; God’s Love We Deliver in NYC; Lifelong in Seattle; Mama’s Kitchen in San Diego; MANNA in Philadelphia; Moveable Feast in Baltimore; Open Arms of Minnesota in Minneapolis; Open Hand in Atlanta; Project Angel Food in Los Angeles; Project Angel Heart in Denver; and Project Open Hand in San Francisco.

For people living with HIV and other critical illnesses, a healthy meal is the first line of defense in ensuring their medication is effective. The food pantries, congregate meal services and meal delivery programs receiving grants are also an essential resource to individuals and families living in underserved communities.

“These people are often assisted by food service agencies, large and small, in city, suburban and rural areas that face programmatic budget cuts pushed through by the current administration,” Viola said. “So this support is perhaps needed more today than ever before.”

Two additional grant rounds will occur later this year to support nationally recognized service and public policy programs, emergency assistance programs, direct services, substance abuse and harm reduction services, and quality of life programs.

In 2018, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awarded a record $7,333,741 to AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC. See last year’s grantees by state.