Note: This fundraiser is closed. From September 16, 2020 to December 31, 2020, we raised and redistributed $111,415 to 207 members of our community facing financial hardship, food insecurity, and housing insecurity due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. All information below is an archive of this fundraiser:
Mutual Aid for the Met Museum Staff is a community-based fundraiser organized for and by employees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met").
We aim to raise and redistribute funds to members of our community facing financial hardship, food insecurity, and housing insecurity due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to providing support to all current and former employees who request it, and will prioritize disbursements to those directly affected by the 400+ layoffs, furloughs, retirements, unrenewed contracts, and reductions of hours resulting from the Met’s closure during the pandemic. The Met has reopened, but our community is still hurting.
Whatever you are comfortable giving will help. We aim to provide a payment of $500 to each individual who requests aid. Those in need of more assistance can submit multiple requests, but we will prioritize first-time requests in order to help each and every one of our colleagues in need.
We recognize that this initiative cannot fully alleviate the stresses and structural inequities that the pandemic has thrown into sharp relief, and which disproportionately affect our colleagues who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQIA+, who have disabilities, and/or who have compromised immune systems. This effort is intended to provide tangible support for all who need it. In a time of great uncertainty, we believe in mutual aid as an expression of solidarity, care, and respect.
Over the past few months, cultural institution workers and neighbors have rallied to support one another, and we are indebted to the advice of the organizers of The Brooklyn Museum Mutual Aid Fund, MFA Boston Staff Mutual Aid Fund, Tenement Museum Union Mutual Aid In Hardship Fund, Museum Workers Relief Fund, and Clinton Hill/Fort Greene Mutual Aid.
If you are interested in volunteering or requesting aid, please visit our website www.metmutualaid.org, where you can also find additional resources and answers to frequently asked questions.
All donations to this fund are tax deductible, thanks to the support of our fiscal sponsor Artadia, a nonprofit that identifies innovative visual artists and supports them with unrestricted financial awards and connections to a network of opportunities. In addition to providing protection from the tax liabilities associated with fundraising, they will help us redistribute funds to those who request aid as efficiently as possible. In exchange for this support Artadia will receive a small set-up fee and 4% of the amount raised for the fund.
This fund is run independently of the Met.
