Coronavirus: Ronaldo, Messi Donates €1m To Hospitals, Rihanna, $5m As Relief Fund
As the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, world’s best footballers; Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, have each donated €1million to different hospitals.
These donations is to assist these hospitals purchase medical supplies as they work around Coronavirus cases.
According to a Spanish media, Mundo Deportivo, Messi made the donation to Hospital Clinic, a public hospital in Barcelona, Spain.
The hospital also confirmed receiving the money on their official Twitter page.
Messi’s former Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola, also gave €1m towards the purchase and production of medical supplies and equipment with another Barcelona-based campaign.
Ronaldo and his agent Jorge Mendes have donated €1million, to help three intensive care units in Portugal in their fight against COVID-19.
Their donation will go towards buying crucial equipment for ICUs at Lisbon’s Santa Maria Hospital and the Santo Antonio hospital in Porto, Spain.
Meanwhile, Rihanna’s foundation, Clara Lionel Foundation, has donated $5 million to various organizations assisting with coronavirus relief efforts.
The Clara Lionel Foundation announced the donation in a statement on March 21.
The foundation donated the money to Direct Relief, Feeding America, Partners in Health, The World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and the International Rescue Committee, among others.
The foundation said its goal is “to immediately mobilize a broad response working with on-the-ground partners.”
Rihanna started the nonprofit organization, Clara Lionel Foundation in 2012, in honor of her grandparents, funds education and emergency response programs around the world.
Other celebrities that have also donated funds to help schools, hospitals and food banks overwhelmed by the pandemic including Justin Timberlake, Donatella Versace, Blake Lively, Lady Gaga, Ciara, Kristen Bell, Ciara and Russell Wilson, many NBA players and many others.