The charitable arm of the Dave Matthews Band will join three other local philanthropic funding sources this fall to help area nonprofits recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bama Works Fund, administered by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, announced this week a $1 million commitment to a special community recovery and catalyst grant program, joining with the University of Virginia Health System, the Twice is Nice Fund and the Enriching Communities grant programs through the CACF.
In lieu of its fall grant round, Bama Works is partnering with the Community Emergency Response Fund to offer grants to help nonprofits to recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19 and to address longstanding racial inequities in the region.
The Bama Works Fund made a critical early donation to establish the Community Emergency Response Fund back in March. Since that time, the fund has raised more than $5 million from more than 800 contributors. Most of the money has gone to the COVID-19 Helpline, which has provided direct aid to more than 5,000 households across the region.
The Bama Works Fund has made grants in Central Virginia for 22 years, with the gifts totaling more than $30 million.
“The pandemic has had a significant impact on our nonprofit sector and has laid bare longstanding racial inequities in our communities,” said Brennan Gould, president of CACF. “We are extremely grateful to partner with Bama Works to support the array of organizations who make our region just, caring and vibrant.”
The Dave Matthews Band raised money for people impacted by the August 2017 Unite the Right rally that turned violent and deadly before it could start. A car attack by James A. Fields Jr. killed activist Heather Heyer and injured dozens of others.
The band members organized and headlined the September 2017 Concert for Charlottesville to fund the Heal Charlottesville Fund, which distributed more than $1.5 million throughout the community to support survivors and those impacted by the tragedy.
In 2018, the band and its management company, Red Light Management, gave $5 million to redevelop public housing in Charlottesville through a resident-led process designed to replace 376 units of public housing and generate more affordable housing in neighborhoods.
This spring, the Bama Works Fund announced $536,000 in grants to 85 organizations.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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