Pink donates $500,000 to Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund to help combat coronavirus

Pink is the latest local celebrity to help out Philadelphia during the coronavirus pandemic; the singer and songwriter announced that she’s donating $500,000 to the Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund in order to help combat the COVID-19 outbreak across the region. 

The 40-year-old Doylestown native revealed that both she and her three-year-old son Jameson tested positive for the virus two weeks ago after being tested through their primary care physician. After self-isolating and quarantining at home, she and her family began to feel better and are now clear of the virus, Pink said.

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“This illness is serious and real,” Pink wrote in a note that she posted to social media. “People need to know that this illness affects the young and old, healthy and unhealthy, rich and poor, and we must make testing free and more widely accessible to protect our children, our families, our friends, and our communities.”

Along with donating to Temple University Hospital, Pink is also contributing $500,000 to the Los Angeles Mayor’s Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund “in an effort to support the healthcare professionals who are battling on the frontlines everyday.”

But Pink’s donation to Temple University Hospital is personal. Along with growing up in the Philly region, Pink said that her mom worked at the hospital for 18 years in the Cardiomyopathy and Heart Transplant Center.

“THANK YOU to all of our healthcare professionals and everyone in the world who are working so hard to protect our loved ones,” Pink wrote. “You are our heroes! These next two weeks are crucial: please stay home.”

Local celebrities like Pink have been finding a variety of ways to give back to Philadelphia in order to help out the city during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singer/songwriter Lizzo bought lunch this week for the emergency room staff at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia 76ers’ center Joel Embiid and team ownership have set up a coronavirus testing fund in conjunction with Penn Medicine, starting at $1.3 million, for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic across the region.

Additionally, Sixers’ owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer made a six-figure donation to the nonprofit Philabundance—in conjunction with the 76ers’ Youth Foundation—that would provide 20,000 boxes of food to feed 160,000 Philly residents. The ownership group also made a seven-figure donation to fund the purchase of 10,000 Chromebook laptops for students in the School District of Philadelphia.

Along with Sixers’ ownership, Bryce and Kayla Harper, Ben Simmons, Zach and Julie Ertz, Jason and Kylie Kelce, and Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson have all made donations to the hunger relief organization Philabundance to help feed city residents impacted by the coronavirus.

Philadelphia Eagles’ owner Jeffrey Lurie donated $1 million to Penn Medicine to set up the COVID-19 Immunology Defense Fund for expanded coronavirus research. 

Pennsylvania has 10,017 confirmed coronavirus cases, the ninth-most of any state across the country, and 136 deaths as a result of COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon. With 2,610 positive cases and 24 deaths, Philadelphia has the most cases and deaths across the state.