Rihanna Donates $5 Million to On-the-Ground Coronavirus Relief Efforts
Rihanna’s nonprofit organization, the Clara Lionel Foundation, pledges to donate $5 million to fight the spread of the coronavirus and protect at-risk communities.
When Rihanna created the Clara Lionel Foundation in 2012, its goal was to fund “groundbreaking education and emergency response programs around the world.”
CLF typically responds to natural disasters, and a life threatening virus is no exception. Today, as the spread of the coronavirus reaches nearly every portion of the globe, the nonprofit organization has pledged to donate a hefty sum in order to aid in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.
According to an announcement on the foundation’s site, five million dollars will be donated to organizations including Direct Relief, Feeding America, Partners in Health, The World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the International Rescue Committee. The goal is to provide funds to on-the-ground response teams, food banks serving at-risk communities, aid in the distribution of masks and respiratory supplies, and an acceleration of testing in places like Haiti, Malawi, and Native communities.
While the federal government stalls on making quick decisions that could save thousands of lives, local communities have started their own funds to help save small businesses and protect those who still must go to work while everyone else stays home to distance themselves in a healthy way.
And some celebrities have just decided to take matters into their own hands when it comes to responding to this particular crisis. Christian Siriano has a team of sewers working from home to make protective medical masks to provide to New York healthcare professionals, Pyer Moss founder Kerby Jean-Raymond has turned his New York office into donation centers, and Miuccia Prada donated six ICUs to hospitals in Italy. It extends beyond the fashion world, too, as Bethenny Frankel is also manufacturing and delivering half a million medical masks with her organization B Strong.
Now, Rihanna has made the move towards aiding the crisis with CLF’s five million dollar donation.
CLF has previously responded to global crises with emergency grants, as was the case with Hurricane Dorian, and investing in emergency preparedness models and education in high-risk areas.
CLF’s goal with its five million dollar coronavirus donation is to protect “those who will be hit hardest by this pandemic,” according to the foundation’s executive director Justine Lucas. “Never has it been more important or urgent to protect and prepare marginalized and underserved communities,” she said in a statement.
The entrepreneur has yet to make a personal statement on the matter, but at least we know Rihanna was already preparing her teams for social distancing—just look at the Fenty Beauty TikTok House, a supreme model for quarantine.
