The Weeknd Donates Over $365K USD to Scarborough Health Network
Helping his neighborhood battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Weeknd is giving back to his neighborhood of Scarborough, Toronto, Canada, by donating $500,000 CAD (approximately $365,925 USD) to battle the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to reports, the donation will be made to the Scarborough Health Network Foundation and will be used to strengthen its emergency fund and acquire equipment such as ventilators, ICU beds, vital signs and ECG monitors, personal protective equipment and health and wellness supports for their frontline workers across three hospitals and eight satellite sites. The half a million dollar-donation comes from the $20 CAD (approximately $15 USD) XO Records-branded cloth masks launched in April 2020, with The Weeknd promising a dollar-for-dollar matching donation and for of all the proceeds to go to COVID-19 relief.
“I was raised in Scarborough and felt it was important to give back to the community that raised me during the hard times of this pandemic,” he said in a statement.
The $500,000 CAD donation is just one of the many monetary initiatives The Weeknd has undertaken recently. Earlier this June, he gave $500,000 USD to several organizations supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, including the Black Lives Matter Global Movement, The Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense Initiative and the National Bail Out.
Elsewhere in music, Björk will be one of the very first musicians to hold a live audience concert since the COVID-19 outbreak.
