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In a time of crisis like the one we’re currently living through, people tend to reveal their truest selves. That’s true of those flouting social distancing guidelines to party over spring break, but it’s also true of the millions of health care professionals, grocery-store workers, and other essential-services employees working to provide people with the care and support they need.
This also applies to celebrities, many of whom are stepping up and putting their privilege to good use, assisting those who have had their health and livelihoods impacted by COVID-19. Below, see how Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Oprah Winfrey, and more are helping fight back against the global coronavirus pandemic that’s changed seemingly all of our lives.
Lady Gaga
In addition to curating a World Health Organization benefit concert scheduled for Saturday, April 18, the pop star has also worked with the Global Citizen organization to raise more than $35 million to buy protective equipment for health care workers.
Stephen and Ayesha Curry
Together, this husband-and-wife duo launched a Feeding America online fundraiser to provide daily meals for children who depend on school food for sustenance; by April 2, Feeding America had already raised more than $160,000.
Rihanna
The Clara Lionel Foundation, founded by Rihanna in 2012 and named in honor of her grandparents, donated $5 million to Direct Relief, Feeding America, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, and other organizations fighting COVID-19.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Along with philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, DiCaprio helped launch America’s Food Fund, a charity created to help low-income families, the elderly, those facing job losses, and children who rely on school meals. America’s Food Fund had raised $12 million to assist those and other suffering communities by April 3.
Oprah Winfrey
The famed talk-show host has donated $10 million to coronavirus relief, including $1 million to America’s Food Fund. “I believe that America’s Food Fund will be a powerful way to make a difference for our neighbors in need,” Winfrey said on Instagram.
Dolly Parton
Although providing relief to those affected by COVID-19 is vital, one key to ending the disease itself is with a vaccine. That’s exactly what Dolly Parton, who has long been known for her philanthropy, donated $1 million toward last week.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
Lively and Reynolds were two of the first celebrities to publicly contribute to the fight against COVID-19, donating $1 million to food banks feeling the weight of the coronavirus in mid-March.
Ciara and Russell Wilson
The Seattle Seahawks quarterback and singer chose to make a difference in their own community, pledging to donate one million meals to a local Seattle food bank.
Jay-Z and Meek Mill
Jay-Z and Meek Mill, who cofounded a prison-reform alliance more than a year ago, have donated some 100,000 surgical masks to look out for the health of one of the U.S.’s most vulnerable populations: inmates in prisons and jails across the country.
Kylie Jenner
The founder of Kylie Cosmetics has donated $1 million to fund protective gear for Los Angeles hospital workers. Along with her mother, Kris, and cosmetics company Coty Inc., which bought a stake in Jenner’s beauty company last year, she will also divert resources to help produce hand sanitizer for hospitals.
Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel
The model and the founder of Snapchat, who married in 2017, have donated $10 million to various charities and nonprofits around Los Angeles, including Allies for Every Child, Homeboy Industries, Koreatown Youth Community Center, Proyecto Pastoral, and the Venice Family Clinic.
Halsey
Halsey announced on Instagram on Wednesday that she had purchased 100,000 masks that she planned to distribute to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Providence Saint Joseph, LAC+USC Medical Center, and Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, writing, “Every single day I am in awe of the medical workers on the front lines. Their determination, selflessness, and empathy is the single greatest example of our capacity to love and survive as humans.”
Roger Federer
The tennis star and his wife, Mirka, donated around $1 million to help vulnerable families fighting COVID-19 in their native Switzerland. “Our contribution is just a start,” wrote Federer on Instagram. “We hope that others might join in supporting more families in need.”