What do you suppose Angelenos would say are the most important issues facing the city? The Goldhirsh Foundation earlier this year set up 12 pop-up voting portals in such places as Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Zoo and Randy’s Donuts and asked that question. The top issue? Affordable housing and homelessness, with nearly 68% of the votes. Beyond that, such matters as income inequality, green space and support for foster children were among other oft-cited concerns.
The answers are important because – in a twist on the normal grant-giving process – they guided the foundation in awarding money as part of its annual LA2050 Grants Challenge. It accepted 615 applications for grants, and a panel, looking for charities that lined up with the voting results, selected 10 winners and five runners-up that received a total of $1 million from the foundation. An additional 30 organizations were awarded grants from LA2050’s six other funding partners, with a total of more than $2.5 million going to 42 organizations in one recent event in Hollywood. Those funding partners include the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, the Snap Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation.
Among the grantees: Prosperity Market for income inequality; Arts for Healing and Justice Network for foster and systems-impacted youth; and DignityMoves for housing and homelessness.
“We started the LA2050 Grants Challenge to identify and invest in organizations that are making Los Angeles a better place by addressing issues most important to actual Angelenos,” said Tara Roth, president of the foundation.
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What’s up with that building south of the Santa Monica Pier that’s been illuminated in pink every evening lately?
It’s the Hotel Casa del Mar, and its beachside façade is lit up this month in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s one of many L.A. businesses that show support or host fundraisers for the cause, of course, even if the hotel’s light show is among the more conspicuous initiatives, at least for evening beach strollers and sailors.
The hotel’s nearby sister property, Shutters on the Beach, has joined in. Their spas are offering “Think Pink” manicures, and both are offering select drinks and desserts this month, such as a blushing rose mocktail, with some proceeds going to Providence St. John’s Foundation for Breast Cancer.
The Insider is compiled by Editor-in-Chief Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
