Earlier this month, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that the city’s official philanthropic response to the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic raised $56 million to help more than 105,000 Angelenos with direct financial assistance, home meal delivery for seniors, childcare for hospital workers, and shelter and services for domestic violence survivors.

The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles was established in 2014 to be an agile and trusted institution that rapidly addresses critical needs identified in partnership with the Mayor of Los Angeles.

“When COVID-19 emerged, Los Angeles stepped up to the plate with innovative and courageous solutions to save lives and livelihoods, and we strengthened our government’s actions by tapping into the generosity of our neighbors, our philanthropic partners and our public and private sector,” Garcetti said. “The response from the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles embodies the best of the Angeleno spirit, lifting up our hardest-hit families, keeping vulnerable residents safe and bringing to bear our city’s resolve to confront this devastating blow to our families’ health and economic security.”

Garcetti noted that more than 10,000 Angelenos have made contributions to the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles for COVID-19 response.

“The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles is here to make sure that innovative ideas and private resources can help government better serve the people,” said Deidre Lind, who was the fund’s founding president and who returned to lead the fund through the pandemic. “At the end of the day, none of this would be possible without the generosity of more than 10,000 Angelenos. This response is a testament of the giving spirit of Los Angeles, which is what has made us a model for the nation.”

The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles also received significant support from the city’s civic leadership, including from Katie McGrath and J.J. Abrams, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Kelsey Bateman and Bobby Murphy, Bob Iger and Willow Bay, Connie and Steve Ballmer, Eli and Edythe Broad, the California Endowment, HBO, Marylin and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the W.M. Keck Foundation, Mellody Hobson and George Lucas, the Skoll Foundation, Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, Russell Westbrook, Rihanna and Jay-Z.

For information, visit mayorsfundla.org/covid19-response.