Riot Games has donated $1.5 million to local nonprofits and to the mayor’s relief fund to aid in the coronavirus relief effort in California, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced yesterday.
Riot contributed $500,000 of the $1.5 million, while co-founders Marc Merill and Brandon Beck donated $500,000 each.
“We are blessed here in L.A. to have industries that not only fuel our city but our country and our world’s economy,” Garcetti said. “Gaming is one of those industries and one of the leaders in that space is Riot Games.”
The donation will be split between the Los Angeles Food Bank ($400,000) and the mayor’s funds to support the coronavirus relief effort ($200,000). Those efforts include help for the costs of health care, childcare, senior meals, and low-income and unemployed Los Angeles residents. The remaining $900,000 will be donated to local nonprofits.
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The U.S. has the third-most cases of any country, with 50,000 confirmed—and the epidemic is spreading fast, especially in hot spots on the East and West coasts. California’s confirmed cases total more than 2,600, but due to limits in testing the true number is undoubtedly far higher.
The U.S. Congress passed legislation overnight for a $2 trillion emergency stimulus package in an effort to curb the pandemic.
