LOS ANGELES—The nonprofit Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles announced Dec. 16 that it will provide $300 for groceries and other essentials to 5,000 families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for the holiday season.
The money will be provided through the GIVEN 2.0 initiative launched by the Mayor’s Fund. GIVEN stands for Grocery Intervention for Vital Emergency Needs.
The recipients, who were already selected, were eligible as low-income residents of the city of Los Angeles. They also either suffered an illness, lost employment, or had another negative impact from the pandemic.
The GIVEN initiative was launched in December 2020 and provided $300 to 12,572 families. Throughout the pandemic, the Mayor’s Fund helped a total of 255,000 residents through $74 million in contributions from 13,000 Angelenos who donated to the nonprofit.
“When the pandemic began, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles immediately jumped into action to provide help to Angelenos when they needed it most,” said Deidre Lind, president and CEO for the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles. “Activating on our mission, the Mayor’s Fund continues to support immediate relief programs supporting those impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and providing a way for thousands of Angelenos to express their compassion through donations.”
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that employees in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office have solicited funding for the nonprofit during their workday and with their city email addresses, which is allowed because the solicitations are in support of a charity and not a political campaign.
However, The Los Angeles Times reported that some experts in good governance say the city should be more transparent about employee solicitations.
Bob Stern, a former general counsel at the California Fair Political Practices Commission, who co-authored the state’s Political Reform Act, told The Los Angeles Times that he believes city employees shouldn’t raise funds for the Mayor’s Fund because it is closely associated with Garcetti.
