Oprah Donates $10 Million for Coronavirus Relief, With $1 Million Going to America's Food Fund

We have more news of celebrities going beyond empty platitudes and using their financial privilege to pay it forward.

Oprah has pledged to donate $10 million toward relief during the coronavirus pandemic. She set aside $1 million of that donation to go toward fighting food insecurity, specifically.

“Chef Jose Andres and Claire Babineaux-Fontenot have teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurene Powell Jobs and Apple to launch America’s Food Fund to help feed local communities. I was struck by the work these organizations are doing and while everyone’s priority right now is to stay safer at home, I know there are many of us looking for ways to help,” the media mogul recently wrote in an Instagram caption.

“I believe that America’s Food Fund will be a powerful way to make a difference for our neighbors in need and am committing $1 million to this fund to support those facing food insecurity,” she continued. “I am donating $10 million overall to help Americans during this pandemic in cities across the country and in areas where I grew up.”

For those who are in a position to provide financial help and are wondering where to start, America’s Food Fund set up a GoFundMe account to raise funds for “our most vulnerable populations—children who are out of school and rely on school lunch programs, low-income families, the elderly, and individuals facing job disruptions” and has since raised over $13 million of its $15 million goal.

As CNN reports:

More than 321,000 Americans have tested positive for coronavirus, and at least 9,100 have died, according to CNN’s latest tally of US cases.

The pandemic has also hit the US economy hard, with more jobs lost than gained for the first time in a decade.

Food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens are struggling [to] keep up with increased demand and are asking for donations.

For more information on America’s Food Fund and its mission, head to americasfoodfund.org.