Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are donating to yet another cause.
The couple donated $1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday “to help children in Israel and Gaza,” a source close to the pair told The Hollywood Reporter. They have four children and are adamant about sending financial aid to causes that are important to them.
In the past, Lively and Reynolds matched up to $1 million in donations that were sent to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees after Russia invaded Ukraine, as well as $500,000 to Indigenous-focused safe water charity Water First Education & Training Inc. They also donated another $1 million split between Feeding America and Food Banks Canada, following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More recently, they donated $1 million to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s financial assistance program for performers facing economic hardship as the actors strike continues.
On Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas terrorist attacks, the ICRC sent a truck of medical supplies to a hospital in Gaza, including body bags and stretchers. The organization is assessing the damage to sewage and water treatments, and trying to locate and gain access to the people who are being held hostage in order to establish contact with their families and medically treat them, per its website.
Lively and Reynolds are the first celebrities to publicly provide financial aid to Israel and Gaza as the Israel-Hamas War rages on and the death toll continues to climb. On Saturday morning, Israel’s military announced it was preparing for the “next stages of the war” against Hamas, potentially including “strikes from the air, sea and land” and “significant ground operations,” according to CNN.
Several celebrities have spoken out in support of the innocent victims of the war, including Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, Yara Shahidi, Kerry Washington and Martha Stewart.
