Cash to concerts: Eight ways celebrities are helping the vulnerable during coronavirus

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Cash to concerts: Eight ways celebrities are helping the vulnerable during coronavirus

By Sonia Elks

 

51st NAACP Image Awards – Photo Room– Pasadena, California, U.S., February 22, 2020 – Rihanna poses backstage with her President's award. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

 

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Famous faces are stepping up to help the world's most vulnerable people during the coronavirus pandemic, ranging from donating cash to more quirky offers of support.

 

From walk-on film parts to vegan burger drop-offs, here are eight ways that celebrities are working to support those struggling to cope with COVID-19.

 

1. Pop singer Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation has joined forces with Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to donate $6.2 million to 11 organizations including some helping victims of domestic abuse and homeless or trafficked youth affected by the coronavirus lockdowns.

 

2. Film director Martin Scorsese is offering a walk-on part in a film featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro for the winner of a raffle held as part of the "All In Challenge" raising millions to feed vulnerable groups during the crisis.

 

3. Rapper Snoop Dogg has sent vegan Beyond Meat burgers to a Los Angeles hospice. Model Karlie Kloss and comedian Kevin Hart are also among the brand's ambassadors and supporters backing its pledge to donate more than a million burgers.

 

4. DJ Fatboy Slim will show his praise for healthcare workers by hosting a free club night in Britain for thousands of medical staff and other front-line responders so they can dance away their stresses.

 

5. Pop star Britney Spears has been hailed an unexpected campaigner for workers and the vulnerable after sharing a post on social media which called for re-distribution of wealth to help others.

 

6. Country music star Dolly Parton is hoping to help find a cure for the coronavirus, donating $1 million towards medical research after hearing of "exciting developments" in the field.

 

7. Pop star Lady Gaga is curating a star-studded "One World: Together At Home" concert together with the Global Citizen group on April 18 to raise funds for healthcare workers responding to the global coronavirus outbreak.

 

8. U2 musician and veteran campaigner Bono has made a diplomatic intervention by writing to South Korea's president Moon Jae-in asking him to help Ireland as it battles with shortages of medical supplies.

 

Sources: Global Citizen, Instagram, Beyond Meat, Twitter, All In Challenge

 

(Reporting by Sonia Elks @soniaelks; Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-18

 

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