Tag: donation

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Health

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Made a Big Donation in Baby Archie's Name


Baby Archie is already a little philanthropist! This week, his parents Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made a huge gesture of kindness towards Love the Oceans, a marine conservation non-profit — and they did it all in the name of their five-month-old baby.

According to Harper’s Bazaar, the royal parents donated $5,440 to the charity in mid-August under the name “Archie HMW.” Love the Oceans had been running a month-long JustGiving.com fundraiser at the time and still needed a substantial amount to reach their goal. The organization was able to sleuth out who the money was from because the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had recently highlighted their work in an Instagram post. Once they confirmed that the gift was indeed from the royal family, they were reportedly “blown away” by their generosity. We have to say, we’re also blown away by their creativity of putting it under Baby Archie’s name — he’s not even a year old and he’s already giving back to the world!

Love the Oceans works both to conduct research on marine life in the region and also runs a community outreach program to combat a high number of drownings in Guinjata Bay, Mozambique. They also help locals get acquainted with the ocean and are working to open a swimming pool to teach kids to swim — something which Archie’s donation helped make possible. Their mission lines up with conservation efforts with which both Prince Harry and Markle have been involved: They’ve both worked to preserve animal habitats in Botswana, and their upcoming tour in Africa with Baby Archie will include several outreach efforts to discuss wildlife and forest protection.

“Without that donation and support this would not be happening,” Adam Knight, a swim coach and partner with Love the Oceans tells Harper’s Bazaar. “Now that we’re able to go ahead with this, we will all be thinking of Archie when we open the pool next August. What started out as a passion project is now transforming a community and beyond.”

In an Instagram post six weeks ago, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shouted out several organizations doing similar work, including Love the Oceans. They wrote in the caption, “We were so happy to learn about them and are now able to share them with you!” they wrote. “Thank you for being part of this collective conversation with us; we hope everyone has enjoyed discovering many of these accounts and engaging with each other on how we can all be Forces For Change.”

The organization was so touched by the royal’s social media recognition that they announced on Instagram that they had named one of their sharks after the littlest royal. “As a thank you we have just named one of our juvenile whale sharks ‘Archie’! Welcome to the Love The Oceans family Archie,” they shared alongside an image of the animal.

And Archie’s donation has inspired many others to do the same. Since news of the littlest royal’s efforts make headlines, the JustGiving.com fundraiser page has been flooded with royal fans pledging money and thanking Love the Oceans for their work.



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Health

Taylor Swift Just Made a $113,000 Donation to Support LGBTQ+ Rights


Last month Taylor Swift gave fans what was essentially a State of the (Swift) Union via an essay for Elle titled “30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30.” It was a refreshingly honest piece that covered everything from her love of Command tape to the disbandment of her infamous “squad.”

She also talked about getting more involved in politics—something some critics felt should have happened sooner. “I saw so many issues that put our most vulnerable citizens at risk, and felt like I had to speak up to try and help make a change,” she wrote. Now she’s literally putting her money where her mouth is by donating $113,000 to a group called the Tennessee Equality Project that advocates for the equal rights of LGBTQ people in the state.

The donation came with a handwritten note to the organization’s leader, Chris Sanders, from Swift explaining why she wanted to get involved, which he posted on Facebook. “I’m writing you to say that I’m so inspired by the work you do, specifically in organizing the recent petition of Tennessee faith leaders standing up against the ‘slate of hate’ in our state legislature,” she wrote. “Please convey my heartfelt thanks to them and accept this donation to support the work you and these leaders are doing. I’m so grateful that they’re giving all people a place to worship.”

The Tennessee Equality Project is currently fighting against a number of bills including one that allows adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples based on religious beliefs as well as a “bathroom” bill that many believe could lead to transgender discrimination. “Taylor Swift has been a long-time ally to the LGBTQ community,” Sanders said in the Facebook post. “She sees our struggle in Tennessee and continues to add her voice with so many good people, including religious leaders, who are speaking out for love in the face of fear. Tennessee Equality Project is honored and grateful to reveal Taylor Swift has made a donation of $113,000 to support our efforts at this critical moment.”

Of course, longtime Swift fans will note the use of her favorite number—13—in the donation amount. There was also lots of Twitter love for Tay’s support of the LGBTQ community, including from Ellen Degeneres who tweeted, “@TaylorSwift13, this lit up my heart.”



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Economic Ft Mac

Donation to Local Women’s Shelter Made by Royal LePage

A donation to a women’s shelter in the local area has been made by Royal LePage, and the donation was in the amount of $32,000. Unity House, Fort McMurray’s women and children’s shelter, can definitely use the donation to help out the women and children who arrive there. The shelter is operated by Waypoints, and the donation was given in order to make up for donations lost when the wildfire and evacuation meant the shelter missed two fund raising opportunities. The donation also means that Waypoints will be eligible to receive up to an additional $2 million in funding as well. Michele Taylor, executive director of Waypoints, received the cheque from local branch owner Marian Barry and Phil Soper, the Royal LePage president.

Taylor discussed how important the women’s shelter donation from Royal LePage was, and how much good the money will be able to do. “We were expecting a shortfall in our funding for this year. So this coming through for us is a huge relief. That $32,000 is actually worth about 10 times that amount to us. Donations are needed now more than ever. If we can provide healthy relationship support to Fort McMurray and Wood Buffalo region families, we may be able to head off those first incidences of domestic violence in families and that’s good for everyone.” Unity House usually receives approximately $30,000 from a May garage sale fundraiser and a June baseball tournament fundraiser, but both were missed this year due to the wildfire and evacuation.