NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 This year\u2019s Love Rocks NYC benefit is as star-studded as ever, with headliners Paul Simon, Mary J. Blige and Elvis Costello, and hosts that include Whoopi Goldberg and Julianne Moore.<\/p>\n
But organizers say the sold-out event, set for Thursday night at New York\u2019s Beacon Theatre, is taking on additional significance this year. It marks the 10th Love Rocks concert and the 40th anniversary of God\u2019s Love We Deliver, the nonprofit that provides medically tailored meals to New Yorkers that need them, at a time when federal cuts to food programs have increased demand for that work. And the more difficult fundraising landscape makes events like Love Rocks, the nonprofit\u2019s biggest of the year, even more essential.<\/p>\n
Greg Williamson, the concert producer and real estate broker who has executive produced all the Love Rocks NYC shows with fashion designer John Varvatos and events producer Nicole Rechter, said the reduced federal support to fight food insecurity has made artists more interested in helping out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has always been a reason to support this cause, if you can,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cBut during the times we\u2019re living in, people are very aware of (federal cuts).\u201d<\/p>\n
The Love Rocks shows have raised $65 million in the past 10 years, which translates to about 6.5 million meals that God\u2019s Love We Deliver can offer, Williamson said. But the events have also raised the profile of the charity and its mission, enabling it to attract more volunteers and more partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve cracked the code on using music to raise money and raise awareness, which is not an easy thing to really do effectively and it\u2019s not an easier thing to do year after year,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cThat means more than I\u2019m fully conscious of because it\u2019s just hard to wrap your head around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proceeds from this year\u2019s Love Rocks NYC concert and its livestreaming at loverocksnyc.com is set to be the biggest single fundraiser in God\u2019s Love We Deliver\u2019s history. And it comes at a time where the nonprofit is taking on its biggest expansion, opening a new distribution center in Brooklyn last month and launching its new 40 Forward capital campaign to better utilize the space to serve more meals more efficiently. <\/p>\n
Terrence Mack, God\u2019s Love We Deliver\u2019s president and CEO, said that the group has worked hard to diversify its funding base over the years and only relies on federal grants for a small percentage of its work.<\/p>\n
Because God\u2019s Love We Deliver began serving meals to HIV-positive patients before expanding to anyone with a chronic illness, the nonprofit has always strived to be more in control of its finances rather than depending on governmental funding that could change depending on what administration is in charge. Currently, about 60% of the group\u2019s annual budget comes from philanthropy \u2013 money from individual donors and other nonprofits.<\/p>\n
Mack said that, so far, God\u2019s Love We Deliver hasn\u2019t seen any cuts due to the Trump administration. \u201cWe\u2019ve been really lucky,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we operate in a sweet spot with this administration because \u2018food as medicine\u2019 is something that they are talking about and that they\u2019re keeping front of mind when it comes to the health and well-being of this nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
What sets the organization apart, though, is its volunteers, Mack says. \u201cThe care, dignity and compassion that we bring to our clients through food, but also through that human connection is so important,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course they love our food and they\u2019re so grateful that they\u2019re not hungry\u2026 But it\u2019s all about feeling, about knowing, that they\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actor-philanthropist Liev Schreiber, in celebrating the 40 millionth meal donated by God\u2019s Love We Deliver in the New York area last year, said that the nonprofit is \u201ca testament to New Yorkers and how they step up.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the things I love about this city,\u201d he said of the organization.<\/p>\n
_____<\/p>\n
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP\u2019s philanthropy coverage, visit https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/philanthropy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 This year\u2019s Love Rocks NYC benefit is as star-studded as ever, with headliners Paul…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[25536,25537,118,9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-150938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-ap-business","9":"tag-ap-entertainment","10":"tag-associated-press","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-ny","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-nyc-headlines","15":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}