Tag: Donations

Categories
Health

The Fyre Festival Caterer Who Lost Her Life Savings Has Received Over $160K in Donations


One of the most poignant moments in Netflix’s new documentary about the Fyre Festival is when Maryann Rolle, owner of the Exuma Point Resort, reveals she drained her savings to pay employees who prepared food for the now infamous event.

“I had 10 persons working directly with me just preparing food all day and all night, 24 hours,” Rolle says toward the end of the documentary. “I had to literally pay all those people. I am here as a Bahamian, and they stand in my face every day. I went through about $50,000 of my savings that I could have had for a rainy day. They just wiped it out and never looked back. Personally, I don’t even like to talk about the Fyre Festival. Just take it away and let me start a new beginning, ’cause they really hurt me. I am really hurt from that.”

Rolle is just one of many people affected by the Fyre Festival, which was founded by Billy McFarland and promised attendees a luxurious weekend in the Bahamas filled with music. Of course, this didn’t happen: Nothing originally advertised about the Fyre Festival came to fruition. There were no fancy accommodations or delicious food or Instagram models running around. It was all, essentially, a scam—and according to Netflix’s doc, many of the local Bahamians who worked on the festival were never compensated. This included Rolle.

[embedded content]

But it looks like she’s finally receiving some justice. Rolle started a GoFundMe on January 14 seeking $123,000 to dig herself out of the hole caused by Fyre Fest—and people are stepping up to help. So far, Rolle has raised over $166,000 from more than 5,000 donors.

“As I make this plea, it’s hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid…I was left in a big hole,” Rolle wrote in her GoFundMe post. “My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest. My only resource today is to appeal for help.”

Netflix’s documentary clearly had an effect on people. “Just watched the Fyre Festival doc and I’ve also been to Exuma. As soon as I heard your story of spending $50k of your own money, I knew I wanted to donate somewhere,” one person wrote on the GoFundMe page. “My heart goes out to Maryann. I hope she can rebuild and put the horrible things behind her,” posted another.

If this doesn’t restore your faith in humanity, what will?

Related Stories:

Fyre Festival’s Failure Has Set the Internet Ablaze With Memes

The Best Documentaries on Netflix in January 2019

77 Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in January



Source link

Categories
Health

Gifts that Give Back 2017: Donations, Charitable Companies You Can Support


Even with all the merriment in the air, the holiday season is also a time to consider those who are in less fortunate positions. Even in the frenzy of these gift-giving weeks, it’s okay to take a step back and ask yourself how to best channel this money-spending privilege when there’s still so much global and humanitarian work that needs to be done. That’s precisely why we’ve culled 35 incredibly cute, bitingly sassy, and cozy winter items that anyone on your list would be delighted to unwrap this season, and that are made by socially-thoughtful brands dedicated to giving back to the world at large. From feminist fashion labels that donate proceeds to Planned Parenthood to O.G. “buy one, give one” pioneers like Warby Parker and Toms, these companies will inspire you to be more mindful in how you shop. Besides being stylish as hell, these cause-worthy gifts will render more of an impact than you’d think.



Source link

Categories
Health

Mila Kunis Makes Monthly Donations to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence's Name


Mila Kunis, Bad Moms star and casual hero, is on a one-woman mission to plant a little ire in the mailbox of Vice President Mike Pence.

ICYM2016 (lucky you): Pence, who has a hard pro-life stance, has voted to limit women’s access to birth control, among other things pertaining to reproductive rights. (Don’t even get him started on abortion: As far back as the early 1990s, he was on the board of a far-right Indiana organization that wanted abortion to be criminalized, and his track record as a governor is grim reading for pro-choice women.) He also cast the tie-breaking vote for legislation that would make it easier to strip Planned Parenthood of funding—and let’s just say he didn’t choose the side that would give the health care organization more money. Fun times. But Kunis is doing her part to stand up to Pence and his voting record, while supporting women’s health care: She told Conan O’Brien that she makes a monthly donation to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence’s name.

“As a reminder that there are women out there in the world who may or may not agree with his platform, I put him on a list of recurring donations that are made in his name to Planned Parenthood,” she told O’Brien on his eponymous show earlier this week. “Every month, his office—he gets a little letter that says ‘an anonymous donation has been made in your name.”

[embedded content]

Kunis explained that this is “not so much a prank as much as I disagreed with some of the stuff that Pence was doing.” We appreciate this level of both political and productive trolling. “It’s a peaceful protest,” she said.

As a reminder, you can make donations to Planned Parenthood on behalf of someone else; the organization will then send a note thanking said person for the contribution.

In a totally unrelated note, Pence’s official mailing address is: The White House, Office of the Vice President, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500.

Related Stories:
–Mila Kunis Can’t Think of a Single Thing About Ashton Kutcher That Annoys Her
–Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s First Real Kiss Sounds Kind of Gross If You’re a Non-Smoker
–Ashton Kutcher’s “Blood Is Boiling” Over Trump’s Ban: Mila Kunis “Came to This Country on a Refugee Visa”



Source link

Categories
Health

Democratic Senators Give Away Donations From Harvey Weinstein Over Harassment Allegations


Multiple Democratic senators have announced plans to give Harvey Weinstein’s campaign donations to charity following a New York Times investigation revealing that the Hollywood studio executive had reached eight settlements over the course of almost three decades with women who alleged he sexual harassed them .

According to Variety, the list of senators returning Weinstein’s political contributions began with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who announced on Thursday plans to donate the $2,700 to the Women’s Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Al Franken (D-MN), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have since followed suit, disavowing Weinstein and diverting his contributions to nonprofit organizations advocating for women’s rights and victims of harassment and assault.

The Democratic National Committee, which received a reported $30,890 from Weinstein, has also pledged to donate the money to women’s organizations.

“The allegations… are deeply troubling,” the DNC said in a statement, according to the Daily Beast. “The Democratic Party condemns all forms of sexual harassment and assault.”

The DNC continued: “The DNC will donate over $30,000 in contributions from Weinstein to EMILY’s List, Emerge America and Higher Heights because what we need is more women in power, not men like Trump who continue to show us that they lack respect for more than half of America.”

Weinstein also donated to multiple Hillary Clinton campaigns between 1999 and 2016; as of this writing, she has yet to release a statement on Weinstein and whether she’ll go the way of her fellow Democrats. Between his own contributions and other fundraising efforts, Weinstein donated $679,275 for former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Like Clinton, Obama has so far remained silent on Weinstein.

Variety‘s report states that these contributions make up Weinstein’s 20 years’ worth of political spending, which amounts to “more than $1.4 million in total to federal candidates, parties, and political action committees since 1990.”

Weinstein’s deep ties to the party, however, extend beyond finances. Weinstein often acted as a kind of social liaison between Hollywood and D.C., arranging a meeting between former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Bradley Cooper in 2012, and bringing Malia Obama on as an intern at his company earlier this year.

These relationships have made the scandal surrounding Weinstein’s treatment of women an occasion for the Republican Party to turn the tables on politicians who decry the GOP’s anti-woman policies.

“During three-decades worth of sexual harassment allegations, Harvey Weinstein lined the pockets of Democrats to the tune of three-quarters of a million dollars,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in the statement. “If Democrats and the [Democratic National Committee] truly stand up for women like they say they do, then returning this dirty money should be a no brainer.”

So far, for most Democrats, it has been.



Source link