SAG-AFTRA Foundation Has Distributed $5.5 Million In Financial Aid During Pandemic, Needs Donations

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation has distributed over $5.5 million to more than 5,900 SAG-AFTRA members and their families since the coronavirus shutdown.

“We’re still asking for your help and donations, so if you’re in a position to do so, please consider helping our cause,” said Foundation president Courtney B. Vance in his latest fireside chat. “100% of your support will go directly to fellow performers and their families in need during this critical moment, so we thank you in advance for stepping up for our community.”

Despite the pandemic, the work of the Foundation continues. On Wednesday, the Foundation will host a conversation between actor and activist Alfre Woodard, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors. “Alfre and Patrisse will take part in a thoughtful, provocative discussion on race, criminal justice and incarceration; and speak to the ways we can all take actionable steps to create the change we all want to see,” Vance said. The framework of their talk, he noted, will be Woodard’s 2019 film Clemency, which distributor Neon is offering free to the public through the end of the month.

Watch his 16th fireside chat above.

“It has been a strange summer indeed, but it need not be a lost one,” Vance said, offering words of encouragement, as he always does. “Hopefully you’ll continue to use this time, and this season, to invest in both yourself and the community around you. We’re gonna come out of this, and I’ve said before, we’re gonna do it by working together. So while we can’t dictate when we will emerge from a COVID-world, we have the power to decide how we will emerge, and I trust as performers you’re using this adversity to your advantage by turning this headwind into a personal, productive, and positive tailwind.”