George and Amal Clooney Donate More Than $1 Million to Coronavirus Relief Efforts
George Clooney and Amal Clooney are opening up their wallets to help as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread across the United States.
The married pair have joined a growing list of wealthy celebrity donors who have contributed to relief efforts, giving over $1 million of their personal funds, spread across six different charities close their hearts.
Deadline was first to report the news of their efforts. According to the outlet, the Clooneys donated $250,000 each to the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the SAG-AFTRA Fund, and the Los Angeles Mayor’s Fund.
George, 58, serves on the board of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which is offering financial relief to those affected by the industry-wide shutdown. The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s fund is also providing financial aid to those out of work, helping them pay their basic living expenses like food, housing, and medical bills.
The Los Angeles Mayor’s Fund supports emergency response activities across a number of areas — including supplying hospitals and medical workers with critical resources and healthcare equipment, delivering meals for isolated seniors, offering childcare and other community resources to affected families, delivering relief to small businesses, and providing services to the city’s homeless population (such as emergency shelters, hygiene stations, and more).
Additionally, the Clooneys donated $300,000 to three international charities: the Lebanese Food Bank, the National Health Service COVID-19 appeal, and the Lombardo Italy Region.
The Lebanese Food Bank feeds hungry people in need, including the elderly, disabled, single mothers, orphans, those unable to work, and those with chronic diseases. The National Health Service COVID-19 appeal gives help to frontline medical staff treating infected patients. And the Lombardo Italy Region directly dispenses money to local hospitals in the Lombardo region, where the Clooneys have a home.
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Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Italy has been particularly hit hard, with at least 139,422 reported cases in the country and 17,669 deaths as of Thursday morning, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Here in the United States, as of Thursday morning, there have been at least 429,264 cases and 14,820 deaths, according to The New York Times. At least 7,530 cases and 198 deaths have been reported in Los Angeles alone.
The Clooneys are just a few of the stars who have contributed to coronavirus relief efforts.
Billionaire Jack Dorsey, who is CEO of both Twitter and digital payment service Square, said on Tuesday that he will be transferring $1 billion of his Square equity to his limited liability company, Start Small — an organization giving relief to victims of coronavirus.
Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, announced earlier this month that he was donating $100 million to Feeding America, a hunger-relief organization, in order to help the families who rely on food banks and have been majorly impacted by the virus.
Bill and Melinda Gates, along with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, also recently contributed a $25 million donation to help fund treatments for coronavirus. Additionally, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $125 million to help develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
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Other stars — like Leonardo DiCaprio, Pink, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Kristen Bell, JJ Watt, Drew Brees, Rachael Ray, and Kelly Ripa and Mark Conseulos — have also given back.
On Wednesday morning, Tyler Perry paid for the groceries of all elderly shoppers at 44 Kroger stores in Atlanta, Georgia, his home state, as well as 29 Winn Dixie stores in his native New Orleans during the hour reserved for older customers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.
