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As many celebrities have been stepping up to the plate to provide important funding for COVID-19 relief efforts around the world, Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation has recently donated $5 million towards the fight against the global pandemic, according to Billboard.
The money will be used to support organizations Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee, and World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as they continue to battle the pandemic in the U.S., the Caribbean, and Africa. Health and disaster relief, especially in the Caribbean and Africa, has been a focus of the foundation since its inception in 2012.
The money will go towards a variety of things including food banks serving immunocompromised and at-risk communities such as the elderly, protective equipment, ICU funding, increased testing and care in countries like Haiti and Malawi, additional support for Indigenous communities, healthcare worker training and more. "Never has it been more important or urgent to protect and prepare marginalized and underserved communities—those who will be hit hardest by this pandemic," foundation Executive Director Justine Lucas said in a statement.
Most recently, Rihanna also personally donated the equivalent of $700,000 USD to her native Barbados in order to purchase important ventilators used in the treatment of more severe cases of COVID-19, according to Loop News Barbados.
