Rihanna donates $5 million to relief efforts

Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation is giving $5 million (Dh18.37 million) to the response efforts against the coronavirus.

The money will support “on-the-ground partners working on the front lines of disaster response especially those focused on protecting and serving marginalised communities — helping the most vulnerable in the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa prepare for what is to come,” the foundation said in a statement.

The funding will be channelled through Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee, the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and others.

“Never has it been more important or urgent to protect and prepare marginalised and underserved communities — those who will be hit hardest by this pandemic,” CLF’s executive director Justine Lucas said in the statement.

The money will go to food banks, testing, health care worker training, virus prevention and distribution of critical respiratory supplies.