When we initiated the Pandemic Relief Fund on Friday, March 13, we knew we had to do something big to further our reach to help more people during this difficult time. Thanks to our friends at the Los Angeles Rams, we were able to join forces with ABC7, ESPN Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and unite together in creating our first-ever virtual Te’LA’thon. The virtual telethon connected thousands, showing the power of people coming together to help those in need, even if they themselves were not in a place to give much under these unprecedented circumstances.

Our first-ever virtual telethon was one for the books. Thousands of Angelenos made donations benefiting the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ Pandemic Relief Fund and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, via calls, text, webpage, and snail mail. Over 585,000 impressions on Twitter and 78,000 emails helped drive over 3,000 donations all while supporting the country-wide social distancing mandate. Together we raised more than $2.2M and truly delivered on United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ role of rallying people from a variety of sectors, to yield greater impact united, than we could on our own.

Not only did we support from thousands of viewers, but the Pandemic Relief Fund has stayed active to this day. We have seen another thousand individuals step up as well as many of our corporate and foundation partners rise to the call as a growing list of needs became broadcasted, even forging collaborations with new partners to the United Way family. We extend our deep gratitude to so many of our individual donors, corporate and foundation partners that stepped up to Chip In big by designating impressive gifts. A special THANK YOU to these organizations for their generous contributions:

  • AIG
  • Blinkoff Corngold Charitable Fund
  • City National Bank
  • Dignity Health
  • East West Bank
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. 
  • Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation
  • The California Endowment
  • The California Wellness Foundation
  • UniHealth Foundation
  • US Bank
  • Valero Wilmington Refinery
  • Wells Fargo
  • William, Jeff and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation