The Weeknd is making a bold move for the people in the war-torn Gaza Strip as he pledged $2 million to send out 18 million loaves of bread.
Now going by his real name, Abel Tesfaye, the Canadian-born singer made the donation possible through his XO Humanitarian Fund.
The Weeknd Donates to Families in the Gaza Strip
According to a statement obtained by Billboard, Tesfaye's donations will be used to provide more than 1,500 metric tons of wheat flour to bake more than 18 million loaves of bread for 157,000 Palestinians for a month.
"We are very grateful for Abel's continued support as WFP works to respond to the urgent hunger crisis in Gaza," World Food Programme USA President and Chief Executive Office Barron Sega said in a statement obtained by the publication. "Hunger is a human-made problem, and as such, it is solvable. We have enough food in this world to feed everyone; all we need is the funding and safe access to make it happen. Thanks to Abel's designation, families and children will receive the food they so desperately need."
Aside from his donation, Tesfaye has also implored his fans to donate to the fund. He even shared the announcement by the World Food Programme about his donation to his Instagram account, which can be seen by his 74.9 million followers worldwide.
As of this writing, Tesfaye, his other partner organizations, and his fans have raised more than $6.5 million for the fund, with $4.5 million toward relief operations in Gaza.
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The Weeknd's Humanitarian Aid
Unbeknownst to many, Tesfaye is a United Nations World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador who donated $2.5 million to the World Food Programme's Gaza response in December 2023.
Tesfye's initial donations have provided four million emergency meals to the victims of Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip. It covered 820 metric tons of food parcels to over 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks.
Tesfaye was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador in October 2021 and has since been an avid supporter of the World Food Programme's global hunger relief missions.
In fact, he even dedicated $1 from every concert ticket he sold in his After Hours Til' Dawn Stadium Tour to his XO Humanitarian Fund.
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