Known for helping their communities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, power-couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have made yet another generous donation — this time to Covenant House, an organization that supports homeless and at-risk youth in Canada.
The pair have built on a generous track-record of support towards Indigenous women and people experiencing hunger by pitching in $250,000 to the Toronto Covenant House shelter, and $250,000 to the Vancouver shelter.
The donations will help provide warm meals, safe spaces, medical attention, and support to those who need it, the charity said.
In a statement, Covenant House Vancouver CEO Krista Thompson thanked the couple for their generous contribution, which was made as part of an end-of-year matching donation campaign.
“Ryan and Blake truly understand that young people who are facing homelessness deserve unconditional love and absolute respect,” Thompson said. “Just like Ryan and Blake, we hope this gift highlights the value of each and every youth; and inspires others to open their hearts to those struggling with the crisis of homelessness.”
Covenant House, Canada’s largest youth shelter, provides valuable help to people experiencing homelessness, trauma, and abuse.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have donated $500,000 to Canadian initiatives supporting homeless, at-risk and trafficked youth across the country. Half of the money will go to Covenant House in Vancouver and the remainder will benefit the organization’s Toronto branch. pic.twitter.com/SB4yexDsRO
— Breakfast Television Toronto (@BTtoronto) November 26, 2020
The agency also offers a range of care and counselling services to survivors of sex trafficking and sexual abuse — 90% of whom are women, according to a recent study from Statistics Canada.
Reynolds, who’s committed to the cause, stressed the need to look beyond this “extraordinary trauma” and to believe in the potential of young people to shape their future in spite of it.
“They are so much more than that trauma. They have so much to offer the world,” he noted. “Matching this gift is saying you believe in them. You believe in the power of compassion to transform the trajectory of a human being.”
The native Vancouverite, who is a “long-time friend” to the Covenant House according to Global News, says his donation is an “investment in compassion and empathy; something the world needs more of.”
At a time when compassion could be the key to solving one of the most pressing global health challenges ever experienced, truer words were, perhaps, never spoken.