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Arts and culture

How to give

American Guild of Musical Arts Relief Fund: The AGMA is a labor union that represents artists involved in America’s operatic, choral and dance heritages. Their relief fund will support members who have lost opportunities and income during the coronavirus crisis.

ArtsFund COVID-19 Arts Emergency Relief Fund: This fund will help stabilize the arts sector in Seattle, where the coronavirus has been especially devastating.

Broadway Cares: This non-profit helps vulnerable people in the performing arts community, and has created an emergency fund for creative industry workers in New York who are impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

CERF+: This is a non-profit organization that builds financial security for artists in craft disciplines (like metalsmithing and sculpting) , and provides advocacy and education opportunities. They have a fund specifically for artists affected by the coronavirus crisis.

The Actors Fund: TAF provides financial relief and promotes economic security for performing arts and entertainment professionals.

The Actor’s Fund of Canada: The AFC’s emergency assistance fund will help help Canadian arts and entertainment professionals maintain their health, dignity and ability to work through the crisis.

The Center for Puppetry Arts: The CPA offers free virtual programing for children and adults. Enjoy puppet shows, puppet presentations and workshops from home.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation: Among other things, the EIF helps people in the entertainment industry raise funds and awareness and advocate for positive change in times of crisis. Their Coronavirus Fund will provide relief to vulnerable people in the industry.

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts: The FCA, which promotes and supports innovative and emerging artists, has an emergency fund to support artists who have lost income from canceled performances or exhibitions.

MusiCares: This charity, established by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, provides relief to music industry professionals in times of crisis. Their Coronavirus Relief Fund is supported by major tech and streaming companies like Pandora, Spotify and Youtube Music.

How to help in your community

Commit: Purchase an annual membership to your favorite arts venue, museum or cultural heritage site to show them you’re in it for the long run.

Collect: Support local artisans by buying their work as gifts, or purchase other merchandise to support local acts.

Follow: Your favorite arts venue may be offering in special online programs during coronavirus restrictions. Follow and interact to show they’re making an impact.

Tune in: Search for and participate in virtual events from your favorite musicians or venues (even museums and galleries may offer some).

Education and technology

How to give

Donate a computer: The National Digital Inclusion Alliance has an urgent call for laptops, desktops, Chromebooks and tablets from corporate and governmental entities. Due to the global Covid-19 crisis, the demand for low-cost and no-cost computers for those in need far exceeds the current available supply.

National 4-H Council: Launched the FOURWARD Fund to support youth across all communities, with or without internet access, by ensuring all kids have access to the necessary resources.

How to get help

Affordable internet and Lifeline: Lifeline is a federal program that provides a $9.25 monthly subsidy for broadband services. To help during the pandemic, the FCC has temporarily waived Lifeline usage requirements and general de-enrollment procedures until May 29, 2020. Check out All Connect’s affordable internet guide for program details and other available options.

Low-cost computers: InterConnection offers computers for low-income individuals and families through their ConnectAll program.

No-cost computer lottery: CompUDopt is having a no-cost computer lottery for low-income students, with locations in Houston, Dallas, Chicago, New Orleans and DC.

PCs for People: No-cost computers, computer repair, internet service and learning resources for individuals and families below the 200% poverty level or currently enrolled in an income-based government assistance program.

Homeless communities

How to give

Coalition for the Homeless: Providing temporary housing and meals in New York City, where the magnitude of the coronavirus outbreak has left unhoused people especially vulnerable.

Covenant House: This human rights organization focuses on homeless youth and is taking donations to help protect youth across the country who are especially at risk during the coronavirus outbreak.

Family Promise: Working with over 200 communities in 43 states to make sure families impacted by current economic changes have what they need to stay housed.

The Salvation Army: Working with local, federal and medical leaders to provide coronavirus response, and has a fund to assist with food, help with utilities and provide safe shelter to homeless and disadvantaged people affected by the crisis.

How to help in your community

Donate food or funds: Find a local shelter in your community and contact them to see what they need, such as non-perishable goods, clothing or basic supplies.

Stay in touch: Like other vulnerable communities, unhoused people will face serious challenges even after the coronavirus outbreak is over. Consider volunteering or making another commitment in the future.

Meals and food support

How to give

Blessings in a Backpack: This organization helps feeds school children across the US, and is partnering with districts that have summer feeding programs to extend services while schools are shut down.

Convoy of Hope: Delivering meals through partners, churches and community organizations across the US. They have received requests for assistance from more than 40 states.

Feeding America: With a network of 200 food banks across the US, this organization is helping food banks support communities impacted by the pandemic.

FoodCorps: Working with school districts to ensure school meal sites can feed students who are out of school as well as their families.

GENYOUth: They are providing grants to schools to supply resources for meal distribution and delivery so students can be fed even when they are not at school during the coronavirus crisis.

Meals on Wheels: Provides home delivery of food to seniors. The organization faces an increased need for volunteers and donations right now as many seniors find themselves more isolate and in need than usual.

Mercy Chefs has partnered with their food distributors to give free grocery meal boxes in more than 15 different locations across the country. The non-profit is also sending recipes, strategies and protocols to volunteers, who will then package and distribute meals in their communities.

Operation Blessing is greatly expanding its distribution of food and supplies, following a surge of almost 40% in demand.

Save the Children: Actresses Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams have teamed up with Save the Children to launch #SAVEWITHSTORIES. The program is providing children in America’s poorest communities with nutritious meals, books and other learning resources during the outbreak closures.

United Way: They are using their Covid-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund to stock food banks with essential staples to help feed children who rely on schools for meals.

WhyHunger: Created a Covid-19 Rapid Response Fund to help the food insecure and launched a crowd sourced map to connect individuals with free meal sites, in the U.S. and some communities around the world.

World Central Kitchen: Founder Chef José Andrés is turning the kitchens in some of his restaurants into community kitchens offering free to-go lunches for those in need.

How to help in your community

Food Pantries.org: Use this national database to locate food pantries in local communities that you can contribute to.

Little Free Pantry: This organization is standing ready across the US, giving 24-hour neighborhood access to food and other necessities.

What CNN Heroes are doing Stan Hays, one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes for 2017, founded Operation BBQ Relief to provide meals for natural disaster survivors and first responders. In response to the pandemic, Hays and his charity are now delivering hot meals to veterans and the homeless in various parts of the country. The BBQ Relief team is mobilizing Covid-19 efforts in Kansas City, with plans to bolster their meal delivery services in other states through the various stages of the coronavirus crisis.

Medical efforts

How to give

The CDC Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund: This fund supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work by supplying immediate supplies and emergency staffing to state and local communities responding to Covid-19.

Center for Disaster Philanthropy: This resource helps people make intentional and informed giving decisions during disasters. They have created the Covid-19 Response Fund to support first responders, health care workers and individuals quarantined.

Cleveland Clinic: The nationally renowned clinic is conducting research on Covid-19 to identify better testing, patient treatment and care and possible vaccines.

CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) has partnered with the Los Angeles mayor’s office to manage free drive-thru testing for high-risk people.

COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund: This is a joint effort by the World Health Organization, UN Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation that supports diagnostic testing, treatment and vaccine research and distribution of medical supplies.

Direct Relief: This humanitarian aid organization is providing protective equipment for health workers in the US and China, and is working with regional response agencies in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Doctors Without Borders: Their professionals and volunteers are preparing vulnerable communities around the world for the impact of Covid-19. They are also supplying many countries with protective equipment, and replenishing medical supplies in critical hospitals in China, Hong Kong and Italy.

First Responders Children’s Foundation: Help for first responder families who are enduring financial hardship due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Gary Sinise Foundation: Providing grants to first responders in need of personal protective equipment and giving financial assistance to service members, veterans, first responders and their families who have been impacted by the coronavirus.

Global Empowerment Mission: This relief and education organization is providing masks to hospitals and hygiene kits for both medical professionals and the general public.

Good360: Distributing and collecting medical and educational materials needed during the coronavirus crisis.

HealthWell Foundation: This foundation helps underinsured people afford medical care, and has opened a fund to help with ancillary costs for individuals at risk or quarantined due to Covid-19.

International Medical Corps: This organization of first responders is providing training, supplies and emergency medical response planning for at-risk countries.

La Jolla Institute for Immunology: Scientists in their network of laboratories are already reporting progress in mapping Covid-19 and are continuing their research to develop new therapies and potential vaccines.

Medical Teams International is donating PPEs, repurposing their mobile health vans to support hospitals with Covid-19 screenings and providing emergency dental clinics.

MedShare: So far, MedShare has delivered more than 2.8 million masks, 200,000 isolation gowns and other essential medical supplies to hospitals, clinics and health care professionals battling against Covid-19.

Partners in Health: Their Covid-19 response plan includes testing, dignified care, assisting local government response and mobilize community of health care workers.

UNICEF USA: Delivering medical supplies to health workers around the world. They are also providing hygiene and medical kits to schools and health clinics to help keep children safe.

How to help in your community

Donate medical supplies: MedSupplyDrive is helping individuals and medical labs donate protective gear to hospitals in their area. Several national craft and sewing groups are also making masks to send to health care workers.

Donate hand-sewn face masks: Got a sewing machine at home? You can help by sewing cloth masks. The CDC cautions that fabric masks cannot be used in the care of Covid-19 patients, but are helpful in other areas of patient care since other forms of medical protective equipment are exhausted.

Leave a message of support for our medical heroes: Share your own or listen to messages of gratitude, hope, love and support for our health heroes at the forefront of the Covid-19 pandemic. Leave your message by calling 1-877-226-HERO (1-877-226-4376).

Mental health

How to help in your community

Be a listening ear: Volunteer to be a crisis counselor for the Crisis Text Line. The help line has reported a dramatic increase in texters mentioning the virus, with 80% feeling anxious. Helping others with the stress of this pandemic, through programs like this, or through neighbors and family, can benefit your own wellbeing too.

How to get help

Get informed: The Centers for Disease Control is offering a list of resources and guides for managing stress, anxiety and how to cope through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Get support: Free 24/7 crisis support is available by texting The Crisis Text Line at 741741. Online volunteers are also needed to help others as crisis counselors. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Disaster Distress Helpline provides 24/7, 365-day-a-year crisis counseling and support to people experiencing emotional distress related to disasters. Call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.

Counseling for health care professionals and essential workers: For The Frontlines is offering free 24/7 crisis counseling and support for health care workers dealing with anxiety, stress, fear, isolation or other difficult emotions experienced during the coronavirus response. Additionally, FrontLineHelp.org is also providing unlimited free sessions with experienced, professional coaches who can provide emotional support until July 31, 2020.

Get addiction support: American Addiction Centers is hosting free virtual support meetings. They will be based on traditional 12-step meetings, hosted by a person in recovery, and topics or meeting types will vary based on the group’s preference.

Tempest is also offering free virtual support meetings to help people maintain or continue their path to sobriety while socially isolating. They have also launched a Covid-19 scholarship for their Recovery at Home program.

Get help with domestic violence: The National Domestic Violence Hotline has posted a “Staying Safe During Covid-19” guide for survivors and their families. Trained counselors are also available by phone 24 hours a day at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and by chat at www.thehotline.org.

Support for teens: Boys Town provides counselors for youth-specific online chat at this link. The TrevorLifeline offers a suicide prevention counseling service for LGBTQ teens, call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678.

Support for LGBTQ community: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) National Help Center is providing confidential peer-to-peer support for youth, adults and seniors.

Find international resources: For support outside of the US, a worldwide directory of resources and international hotlines is provided by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. You can also turn to Befrienders Worldwide.

Refugees and international relief

How to give

Alight: Teams are providing lifesaving health care, clean water and other support to safeguard the vulnerable communities.

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: The JDC is ensuring the safe provision of supplemental food, medicines, medical care, hygiene supplies and training, as well as the deployment of programs to battle loneliness and retrain the unemployed.

American Jewish World Service: AJWS is working in 19 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean to stop the spread of Covid-19. The non-profit is supporting local organizations distributing food, soap, hand sanitizer and protective masks—as well as installing handwashing stations in densely populated areas.

Americares: This is a health-focused relief and development organization that responds to people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing medicine, medical supplies and health programs.

CAMFED: Supporting girls and young women with basic needs, education and distance learning resources.

CARE: Setting up isolation spaces in refugee camps, distributing home-quarantine kits and emergency supplies, ensuring proper sanitation and supporting and protecting aid workers.

Catholic Relief Services is working on virus prevention and awareness campaigns, and distribution of hygiene kits in the most vulnerable communities around the world.

ChildFund International: Curbing child hunger by providing cash transfers directly to vulnerable families in the developing world, distributing handwashing stations, soap and educational materials, plus stepping up measures to protect children from violence and helping them continue learning at home.

COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund: This is a joint effort by the World Health Organization, UN Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation supporting diagnostic testing, treatment and vaccine research and distribution of medical supplies.

Food for the Hungry is working on health and hygiene, leadership development and disaster preparedness and helping vulnerable families with resources such as clean water and soap.

INARA: Founded by CNN Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon, INARA is providing hygiene and food packages to Syrian refugee families who have lost their only income and have no savings. They are distributing in Lebanon and Turkey.

International Rescue Committee: The coronavirus can thrive among groups of people fleeing conflicts or political unrest. The IRC is providing additional protective gear, increasing funding to minimize supply chain disruptions and bringing in more medical staff across affected areas.

Jhpiego: As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, this Johns Hopkins University affiliate, is focusing on interventions in 3 areas: maternal health, infection prevention and assistance to frontline health workers.

Mercy Corps: The Covid-19 Resilience Fund will help provide emergency supplies, food, clean water and support to vulnerable families and communities.

Oxfam: Increasing the delivery of soap, clean water and sanitation services. The non-profit is also building and upgrading hand-washing facilities.

Preemptive Love: Feeds quarantined families and creates digital jobs so refugees can work from anywhere.

Project Hope: This humanitarian NGO has mobilized teams in high-risk countries, to help support doctors and nurses on the front lines of the fight to save lives.

UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency is stepping up health, water, sanitation and hygiene services to protect refugees and displaced people.

UNICEF: With offices in over 190 countries and territories, UNICEF is delivering assistance to children across the areas affected by Covid-19.

World Food Programme : Providing food aid for more than 11.6 million children who are no longer receiving school supported meals and maintaining supply corridors despite closed borders.

World Vision: Providing children in low-income families and schools with emergency kits of food and cleaning supplies and supporting health care workers on the front lines by distributing protective equipment in the US and abroad.

What CNN Heroes are doing In 2017, Samir Lakhani was named one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes for his work with his non-profit, the Eco-Soap Bank. Lakhani’s organization recycles discarded bars of soap from hotels and distributes them to people in need in Cambodia. Now, the Eco-Soap Bank is distributing soap to vulnerable communities to help stem the spread of Covid-19.

Restaurants and food workers

How to give

Buy a recipe! Chefs and bartenders are selling their recipes to raise funds during the pandemic. At Recipes for Relief, your purchase dollars go directly to the respective chef, their business or the non-profit organization they are supporting.

James Beard Foundation: This foundation, named after the legendary food writer, started a Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund to provide micro-grants to independent food and beverage small businesses in need.

National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation: This foundation has established the Restaurant Employee Fund to help restaurant industry employees experiencing hardship in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

United States Bartenders Guild: The USBG is offering emergency grants for bartenders, their spouses, or their children through the Bartender Emergency Assistance Program.

How to get help

Get advice: The reservation app Seated has launched a hotline for restaurant owners to get advice from finance and law experts in the hospitality industry.

Get publicized: Yelp is waiving advertising fees and offering free advertising, products and services for independent local restaurant and nightlife businesses.

Get help answering customer calls: Numa Virtual Answering Service is offering two free months on its business messaging platform to companies impacted by the pandemic. For restaurants: text-to-order with curbside pickup, even if you don’t have any online ordering site.

How to help in your community

Order takeout or delivery: Order meals from your local restaurants and tip generously! (Yes, experts agree that ordering takeout is safe during the outbreak.)

Here is a guide to restaurants offering take-out and delivery:

Resy’s City Guide to Takeout and Delivery Options: This restaurant reservation platform is now allowing users to “book” a meal for takeout or delivery.

Dining at a Distance: Use this aggregator to find out which restaurants are doing take out.

Grubhub: The delivery company has suspended fees for their restaurant partners, and proceeds from their Donate the Change program are going to the Grubhub Community Relief Fund.

Order from your local farmer: Check out options on Local Harvest, or look up your local farmer’s market to see If they have any online or delivery options.

Buy merch online: Some restaurants have online merchandise stores, including t-shirts, sauces, jams and relishes.

Order a gift card and use it later: This is a great idea to support other businesses as well. Hair salons, local shops, tourist attractions and even pet boarding facilities may offer gift cards, so you can show loyalty to local businesses even when you can’t patronize them.

Purchase a “Dining Bond:” The Dining Bonds Initiative is offering gift certificates that work like savings bonds. You buy a bond for less than its face value, and redeem it at some point in the future.

Rally for Restaurants: This campaign encourages diners to buy gift cards, and they will donate one dollar for every social media post to the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation and World Central Kitchen.

Local for Later: This aggregator shows you local businesses you can support during social distancing.

Seniors and people with disabilities

How to give

Free Wheelchair Mission: Provides children and adults with disabilities and their caregivers with critical medical supplies and mobility aids.

Humanity & Inclusion: International Covid-19 response teams are being dispatched for people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, and will provide hygiene kits, traveling social visits and psychological support.

Meals on Wheels: This network of over 5,000 community programs provides meals, visits and safety checks to seniors during the coronavirus crisis.

The Arc Foundation: The Arc advocates for the rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their Covid-19 resources also provide ways to get politically active and stay in touch with your local health authorities.

The National Council on Aging: Donations to the NCOA help provide older adults with food, medicine, utilities and other necessities.

How to help in your community

Deliver food: Help a senior citizen in your community by delivering a meal through Meals on Wheels.

Write a letter: Search for a senior center, memory care center or nursing home in your area and e-mail or call them to let them know you’d like to write some letters. They can let you know any specific requests, and where to send the finished product. (This works even better if several people participate.)

Check in: If you have elderly neighbors or friends, call them to see how they’re faring. Offer to do some non-contact chores, like putting the trash out, getting the mail or mowing the lawn.

How to get help

Get active: The National Institute on Aging, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, offers a set of low-impact workout videos specifically designed for seniors.

Get informed: The National Council on Aging has a hub for everything older adults need to know, including information about coronavirus scams and how to get benefits assistance.

Get connected: Lonely? Call the Institute on Aging’s toll free friendship line to get support, advice or just a someone to talk to.

What CNN Heroes are doing Iraq war veteran and 2012 CNN Hero Jake Wood is the founder of Team Rubicon, a non-profit that brings military veterans together to help communities in disaster. Team Rubicon is asking local volunteers to help neighbors by doing little things like dropping off supplies or checking in on the elderly. They’re also coordinating response efforts through Health and Human Services around the country to provide logistics plans, and establish and operate testing centers in as many as 37 communities worldwide.

Service workers

How to give

PenFed Foundation: The Covid-19 Emergency Financial Relief Program was created by the Pentagon Federal Credit Union to provide financial assistance to all veterans, active duty, reserves and National Guard who are experiencing a financial setback due to the negative economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are taking donations, but the applications for assistance are closed.

The Salvation Army: The charity is expecting increased emergency financial aid requests from low-wage workers or laid-off employees struggling to make ends meet.

United Way: Has established the Covid-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund to support communities affected by the virus. The fund is set to help keep families in their homes who are currently in a financial crisis, stock food banks with essential staples to help feed children who rely on schools for meals.

How to help in your community

Consider paying ahead for services: Some services, like home cleaning, can be purchased ahead of time and then scheduled later. If you know you’ll use it, go ahead and purchase it.

Send a little tip to your hair stylist or nail technician: If you know them, you probably have their Venmo or other payment information.

Over-tip delivery drivers or other service professionals still on the job: They are likely facing serious pressures and personal risk and could use your appreciation.

Pre-book your next service appointment: Eventually, you’re going to have to get your hair done or your pet groomed. Make an appointment now so the businesses know you’re still with them.

Small businesses

How to get help

Get a small business loan: Kiva is offering U.S. small businesses immediate, no-fee, 0% interest loans up to $15,000 and a longer grace period – new borrowers may access a grace period of up to 6 months.

Get connected: Nytch is an app that connects local businesses with guests. They are offering free services during coronavirus crisis.

Get relief: Amazon announced a $5 million Neighborhood Small Business Relief Fund to provide cash grants to local Seattle small businesses.

Get facts and funds: Facebook announced a $100 million grant for small businesses impacted by Covid-19 and launched the Business Resource Hub, which features recommendations to help small businesses stay connected to customers and stay on track.

Get gift cards: Fattmerchant, a payment technology provider, has partnered with Gift Up! to allow its clients to sell virtual gift cards. Gift Up! is waiving its usual 3.49% fee for Fattmerchant’s members’ first $5,000 in gift card sales.

Get secure: Security startup Kangaroo wants to support business owners who are unable to be physical present at their offices: They are offering free (for three months) security camera and monitoring kits.

Get opportunities: The Opportunity Fund, which specializes in money lending to small businesses owned by women, immigrants and people of color, is collaborating with investors and non-profits to put together a coronavirus relief fund that will provide grants and low-interest rate loans to business owners in need.

How to help in your community

Shop small: Independent bookstores across the country are offering delivery and curbside pickup. Find out how to connect to local offerings through IndieBound. If you prefer audio books, Libro.fm works with independent booksellers as well.

Buy gift cards: It will provide immediate income, and you get the product later.

Help Main Street: Allows people to buy gift cards to their favorite stores now with the intention of using them once operations recommence.

Kabbage: Use this service to buy gift certificates to support small businesses

Underrepresented communities

How to give

Hispanics in Philanthropy: Created two emergency funds in response to Covid-19. The Response Migration Fund plans to give out at least $200,000 in mini-grants to help frontline migrant-serving organizations. The Civic Participation Fund is a rapid response grant pool serving grassroots non-profits working to ensure Latinos are counted.

Justice for Migrant Women: Raising immediate funds to help keep farmworker families safe from Covid-19 as they perform essential work to keep our food supply open.

Know Your Rights Camp Covid-19 Relief Fund: A program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation and launched as part of Collin Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights” campaign. The fund will help black and brown communities, which are disproportionately affected by Covid-19. It will focus on food, shelter relief, education, PPE equipment and incarcerated populations.

Liberty Hill Foundation: Launched the Rapid Response Fund for Community to help Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous and queer communities, as well as those living in persistent poverty, immigrants and elderly.

Native Americans in Philanthropy: Established a Covid-19 emergency response fund for Native American communities.

How to get help

Dress for Success: According to the World Economic Forum, the consequences from Covid-19 may be harder on women as they are caregivers and make up the majority of health and social care workers. Dress for Success is providing access to virtual resources and development tools that will help women stabilize their financial situation.

Transgender Law Center: Launched a weekly video call series on how trans people can support each other and advocate for care and resources. Calls are every Thursday at 5 p.m. ET on TLC’s Facebook page.