LOS ANGELES—The nonprofit Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles announced Dec. 16 that it will provide $300 for groceries and other essentials to 5,000 families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for the holiday season. The money will be provided through the GIVEN 2.0 initiative launched by the Mayor’s Fund. GIVEN stands for Grocery Intervention for Vital Emergency Needs. The recipients, who were already selected, were eligible as low-income residents of the city of Los Angeles. They also either suffered an illness, lost employment, or had another negative impact from the pandemic. The GIVEN initiative was launched in December 2020 and provided $300 to 12,572 families. Throughout the pandemic, the Mayor’s Fund helped a total of 255,000 residents through $74 million in contributions from 13,000 Angelenos who donated to the nonprofit. “When the pandemic began, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles immediately jumped into action to provide help to Angelenos when they needed it most,” said Deidre Lind, president and CEO for the …