Rihanna has fast championing herself as a Coronavirus hero.
As the spread of the pandemic seems to increase exponentially by the day, healthcare services around the world are battling to treat patients due to a lack of supplies, equipment, and funds. While no medical professional wants to provide less than the top required treatment to those infected with COVID-19, the mass number of patients at some facilities means that it is not always possible to do so.
Enter Rihanna, our Bajan bae. The “Kiss It Better” singer is taking her duty to humanity extremely seriously as she continues to make donations to hospitals around the globe. Last week, Rihanna donated $700,000 worth of ventilators to her home island of Barbados. The country currently has 24 cases of Coronavirus, with citizens dependent on universal healthcare.
The generous donation was grandly welcomed by Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, but RiRi did not stop there. Her non-profit organization, The Clara Lionel Foundation, also distributed $5 million worth of funding to organizations aimed at fighting the virus and caring for those affected, such as Feeding America, Direct Relief, the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, Partners In Health, and the International Rescue Committee.
Now, the Fenty entrepreneur has once again stepped up to bat. With New York being recognized as housing 5% of the world’s more than 552,000 Coronavirus patients, healthcare personnel are in desperate need of protective gear to ensure they don’t contract the illness while treating it. And so that is exactly what RiRi donated. “I want to thank @rihanna and the Rihanna Foundation for donating Personal Protective Equipment to New York State,” wrote Governor Andrew Cuomo in a tweet. “We’re so appreciative of your help and that of so many others who have stepped up.”
We hope many more celebrities follow Rihanna’s example.
I want to thank @rihanna and the Rihanna Foundation for donating Personal Protective Equipment to New York State.
We're so appreciative of your help and that of so many others who have stepped up.
5/5
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 26, 2020
