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| USA TODAY
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively donate $ 500,000 to support homeless youth in Canada
The celebrity couple made a generous donation to Covenant House in Vancouver and their local branch in Toronto.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are giving back as the holiday season begins, which has inspired other celebrities to do good in their communities as well.
The couple donate $ 250,000 to Covenant House Vancouver and $ 250,000 to Covenant House Toronto to help the organization support at-risk, homeless and trafficked youth across Canada.
The Covenant House, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, according to its website, has “helped transform and save the lives” of more than a million fugitive, trafficked and homeless youth. It reaches around 74,000 young people on an annual basis.
In a blog post featuring the news Wednesday, Kristy Hayter of Covenant House Vancouver wrote that their donation “was an incredible act of kindness and philanthropy.”
“Ryan and Blake truly understand that young people facing homelessness deserve unconditional love and absolute respect,” wrote Krista Thompson, CEO of Covenant House Vancouver.
Reynolds, who is from Canada, is “a longtime friend” of the organization, according to the post.
“Covenant House offers love, hope and stability to at-risk youth who have fled physical, emotional and sexual abuse,” Reynolds said in the post. “They do the work of heroes.”
He said helping Covenant House was not a gift but rather an investment in empathy and compassion.
“The young people who walk through the doors of Covenant House more often have a history marked by extraordinary trauma,” said Reynolds. “They are so much more than this trauma. They have so much to offer the world.”
The donation comes as the coronavirus pandemic has increased job loss and anxiety among those served by Covenant House, the organization said.
Reynolds also encouraged others to donate. Gifts made to Covenant House Vancouver through December 31 will be matched by Reynolds and Lively.
This is not the first time that the duo have offered financial support to an organization.
In May, following George Floyd’s death, the couple donated $ 200,000 to the NAACP Legal and Education Fund and encouraged others to do the same.
“Last week we donated $ 200,000 to @NAACP_LDF. We are impressed with this organization, its empathy and leadership within @Sifill_LDF. Their work is essential to the integrity of democracy, ”Lively wrote in part on Twitter.
And earlier in the year, Reynolds announced that he and Lively given $ 1 million to food collection organizations Feeding America and Food Banks Canada on March 16, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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