There Are Endless Places You Can Donate To On Giving Tuesday Today—and the Newly Established Matthew Perry Foundation Is One of Them

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 28 November 2023

Today marks exactly one month since Friends star Matthew Perry died tragically and unexpectedly at his L.A. home at just 54 years old. To honor him, People reports, his family said that the Foundation created in his honor aims to extend Perry’s “legacy and hard-won wisdom” to help others facing addiction issues, as Perry did for a quarter century.

The Matthew Perry Foundation launched on November 3 with the goal of “identifying addiction as a disease, addressing the complex of stigmas that prevents individuals from seeking and accessing care, and fiercely advocating for better and more equitable treatment,” per People. And, as today is Giving Tuesday, Perry’s family told the outlet that the Foundation is one crucial way they are paying tribute to the late actor, who was candid about his own struggle with addiction throughout his lifetime—and they are hopeful that others will be similarly open about their battles.

“It is important to us, as a family, to honor Matthew’s legacy,” his family said. “The potential that the Matthew Perry Foundation has to help those suffering from this disease is something we are proud to bring to the world.”

Last night, Perry’s stepfather Keith Morrison—you’ll know his face and definitely his voice from Dateline on NBC—encouraged donations to the organization: “This is not the sort of thing I commonly do, this pitch,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “But this year is different. And tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. Do what you can; he would have been grateful.”

Actor Matthew Perry arrives at CBS, CW And Showtime 2015 Summer TCA Party at Pacific Design Center on August 10, 2015 in West Hollywood, California.

Before his death, Perry himself intended to establish a foundation to support those suffering from substance abuse, a cause Perry’s loved ones have taken up in his honor. “When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned,” a quote from Perry reads on the Foundation’s website. “I want helping others to be the first thing that’s mentioned. And I’m going to live the rest of my life proving that. Addiction is far too powerful for anyone to defeat alone. But together, one day at a time, we can beat it down.” Perry said those words in a November 2022 interview; in less than a year, he’d be gone.

You can donate to the Matthew Perry Foundation by clicking here.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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