Celebrity-Filled Telethon Raises Millions For COVID-19 Relief
As the global coronavirus pandemic continues to rage around the world, celebrities have all been banding together and doing their best to help those less privileged to survive the pandemic. The most recent example is the Rise Up New York! event that raised millions to help out.
The Hollywood Reporter says the event was able to raise $115 million in support of disadvantaged New Yorkers that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The event was hosted by Tina Fey and featured celebrities like Barbra Streisand, Robert De Niro, and Jennifer Lopez.
Rise Up New York! was presented by Robin Hood, which is a poverty-fighting organization based in New York, and iHeartMedia.
Quoting the Robin Hood website, CBS News says the total donations will be supporting education, legal services, physical and mental health, cash assistance, shelter, and food for New Yorkers so they can rebuild their lives once the pandemic is under control.
Aside from Fey, Streisand, De Niro, and Lopez, other celebrities that took part in the virtual telethon include Mariah Carey, Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bette Midler, Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Platt, Sting, Chris Rock, Eli Manning, Cynthia Erivo, Bon Jovi, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Billy Joel, and more.
There have already been a number of charitable events organized to help raise funds for COVIF-19 relief. The organization No Kid Hungry received a $1 million donation from Angelina Jolie to help them in their mission to feed the 22 million schoolchildren that now have no source of food after schools were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The “Living Room Concert for America” that was organized by Elton John was also able to raise $8 million for two organizations: the First Responders Children’s Foundation and Feeding America. Both the beneficiaries help out the first responders dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
As it currently stands, it looks like celebrities will have to continue doing these charitable efforts as the number of COVID-19 cases around the world are not slowing down. According to the May 12 status report from the World Health Organization, there are now 4,088,848 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. There are now 283,153 people around the world that have died because of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update for May 12 reveals that there are now 1,342,594 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 18,106 of that being new cases. Fatalities caused by COVID-19 are at 80,820. New deaths make up 1,064 of that total.