- Through her BeyGOOD charity initiative, Beyoncé donated $6 million to coronavirus relief efforts, partnering with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's #startsmall campaign.
- The money will go to organizations supporting underserved communities of color in the U.S.
- Beyoncé is also supporting organizations providing mental healthcare in Houston, New York, Detroit, and New Orleans.
Beyoncé, our forever Queen, just made an enormous donation to aid coronavirus relief efforts. Through BeyGOOD, her charity initiative, she partnered with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's #startsmall fund to donate $6 million, which will go to the National Alliance in Mental Illness (NAMI), UCLA, and a string of community-based organizations.
"Communities of color are suffering by epic proportions due to the Covid-19 pandemic," a statement on Beyoncé's website opens. "Many families live in underserved areas with homes that make it harder to practice social distancing. Communities that were already lacking funds for education, health and housing are now faced with alarming infection rates and fatalities. And these communities lack access to testing and equitable healthcare."
"Beyoncé's BeyGOOD is supporting organizations that are on the ground 24/7, including United Memorial Center, Bread of Life, Matthew 25 and others, to address these dire needsin some of the hardest hit areas, providing basic necessities, including food, water, cleaning supplies, medicines, face masks, and personal hygiene items."
"Void of these basic necessities, mental burdens are also accelerated," Beyoncé said in the statement, explaining that her donation would go towards "providing mental wellness services in Houston, New York, New Orleans and Detroit.
In total, Beyoncé donated to nine community organizations, as well as UCLA and Houston hospital United Memorial Medical Center, urging her fans to follow suit where possible. Want to contribute? Click to donate to Bread of Life, Dia De La Mujer Latina, No Kid Hungry, Matthew 25: Ministries, World Central Kitchen, NAMI Greater Houston, NAMI New Orleans, NAMI Detroit, and NAMI NYC. As Bey would say, now's a pretty great time to BeyGOOD.
Beyoncé also shared a powerful video statement on her Instagram, which also screened during last weekend's One World: Together at Home concert, thanking essential workers and calling out the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities. Read her full statement below:
Tonight we celebrate true heroes. Those who are making the ultimate sacrifice to keep us all safe, fed, and healthy. To the doctors, the nurses, and other healthcare workers who are away from their families, taking care of ours, we continue to pray for your safety.
To those in the food industry, delivery workers, mail carriers, and sanitation employees who are working so we can be safe in our homes, we thank you for your selfless service.
Black Americans disproportionately belong to these essential parts of the workforce that do not have the luxury of working from home. And African-American communities at large have been severely affected in this crisis. Those with pre-existing conditions are at an even higher risk.
This virus is killing Black people at an alarmingly high rate here in America. A recent report from my home city—Houston, Texas—it showed that of COVID-19 deaths within Houston city limits, 57% of fatal cases are African-American.
Please protect yourselves. We are one family and we need you. We need your voices, your abilities, and your strength all over this world. I know it’s very hard but please be patient, stay encouraged, keep the faith, stay positive, and continue to pray for our heroes. Goodnight and God bless you.
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