Sacramento coronavirus fund has raised more than $600,000. Here’s where the money is going

A fund the city of Sacramento and Sierra Health Foundation launched last week to respond to the coronavirus crisis has so far raised more than $600,000 and has selected its first recipients.

Officials Monday awarded $262,678 to United Way California Capital Region; Sacramento Steps Forward; the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce; and the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, according to a news release from the Sierra Health Foundation.

Those organizations will disperse some of that funding to other nonprofits. Monday, the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services received $169,134, which will pay for groceries for 1,380 families over eight weeks, said Mary Lynne Vellinga, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s spokeswoman.

Officials selected the organizations because of their experience in securing grants and quickly deploying funds to communities in need, the release said.

Sacramento Steps Forward will use the funding to provide support for the homeless; the United Way will help low-income families; the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce will help small businesses; and the Sacramento Region Community Foundation will focus on nonprofits, the release said.

So far, 541 people have donated $601,870 to the fund, which launched last week.

“This is an extraordinary time and we are mounting an extraordinary effort to soften the effects of this pandemic on our small businesses, nonprofits and most vulnerable residents,” Steinberg said in the release.

The Sierra Health Foundation and Health Net each donated $150,000; Ford Motor Co. Fund donated $100,000; The California Wellness Foundation donated $50,000; Comcast donated $30,000; the Intel Corp. donated $10,000; The Teichert Foundation donated $10,000; and David and Helene Taylor donated $10,000, the release said.

To donate and for more information, visit http://donate4sacramento.org.