Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS announced today that Broadway legend and entertainment industry icon Bette Midler is personally matching donations to Broadway Cares’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, up to $100,000. Fans of The Divine Miss M and theater lovers everywhere can join Midler by donating at broadwaycares.org/help2020.
Your donation supports those onstage, backstage and behind the scenes who are facing health and financial challenges, which intensify each day as theaters remain dark and television and film production are shut down during this pandemic. Those supported by the emergency assistance fund include stage managers, ushers, ticket takers, hair and makeup artists, dressers, box office personnel, performers, and everyone in the industry who makes the magic of live theater possible. “Between her awe-inspiring talent and boundless generosity, we are so grateful to have Bette as a loyal and true friend of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS,” Executive Director Tom Viola said. “As our performing arts community faces unprecedented hardship, her enthusiasm and advocacy allow us to continue providing life-saving, life-affirming assistance to our friends and neighbors on Broadway and beyond.” Donations to Broadway Cares’ special emergency fund, administered by The Actors Fund, are helping those in theater and entertainment access a full safety net of urgent and vital services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations to the Emergency Assistance Fund are immediately being put to good work. Since the beginning of the pandemic, The Actors Fund has provided support to more than 8,500 performing arts and entertainment professionals. In the first four weeks of the industry shutdown, The Actors Fund distributed more financial assistance than it normally does in a year.
