The Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) was founded in 2012 by singing star Rihanna and named for her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. The Foundation is dedicated to healthcare, educational reform, and emergency response. According to the Foundation’s Wikipedia page, “One of the core pillars of the Clara Lionel Foundation’s work is to transform the way the world responds to natural disasters.”
COVID-19 isn’t a hurricane, a flood, or a famine, but it is certainly a natural disaster, and in response, Rihanna and CLF have donated $5 million to front-line disaster response efforts in at-risk communities.
The $5 million will be portioned out to Direct Relief, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee, Partners in Health, and the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, all groups helping to make sure that underserved communities maintain access to healthcare, food, and elder care during this difficult time.
“Never has it been more important or urgent to protect and prepare marginalized and underserved communities – those who will be hit hardest by this pandemic,” said Justine Lucas, the executive director of CLF.
Along with the large divided donation, Rihanna will be helping local food banks in at-risk communities in the U.S., Haiti, and Malawi, ensuring they can feed the elderly who should not under any circumstances be leaving their homes in this time. She will also be looking into ways to support accelerated testing efforts and provide protective equipment to health workers who are struggling to get it. She has already donated $700,000 worth of medical ventilators to her home country of Barbados.
This is a consistent area of focus for the superstar and her foundation; after Hurricane Dorian, CLF focused their efforts on mobile medical coverage and hospital rebuilding efforts in the hard-hit Bahamas. And since their inception, CLF has been working in conjunction with Engineers Without Borders to make hospitals more disaster-proof around the Caribbean.
Source: Harper’s Bazaar