Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Help Homeless Kids Get Education During Pandemic

• Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are supporting an amazing charity— WIN,  which provides services and safe housing to homeless women and their kids in New York City.
• The couple donated $1 million to the New York governor’s office and WIN in May, and made an additional $500,000 donation to WIN in May.
• Kelly and Mark recognize how lucky they are as a family that’s why they want to pay it forward.

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Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos know how fortunate they’ve been to quarantine at their Long Island, N.Y. home with their children Michael, Lola and Joaquin during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We realize how lucky we are — for all of us to be together like this is probably never going to happen again,” Mark tells PEOPLE in the cover story for this week’s Family Issue. “This time has been so horrible for so many people.”

While quarantining at home, Kelly and Mark thought about a charity they’ve long supported — Women In Need, Inc. (WIN) — a nonprofit that provides shelter and supportive housing to homeless women and their children in New York City.

“We were watching our kids, with all of their technology, and Mark and I said, ‘Learning remotely is so difficult . . . how are they possibly doing this at WIN?’” Kelly says. “Sure enough, they didn’t have the Wi-Fi, tablets or other things they needed.”

So in March, Kelly and Mark donated a $1 million to the New York governor’s office and WIN, and gave another $500,000 to WIN in May. Ripa calls WIN’s impact “awe-inspiring.”

“It certainly made us stop complaining about spotty WiFi or kids not having a graduation ceremony,” the Live with Kelly and Ryan host says. “Those things look really small really fast.”

Kelly also encourages others to donate if they have the means to do so.

“We hope other people who have luckier circumstances like we do will help people living below the poverty line,” says Kelly , whose oldest son Michael, 23, graduated virtually from New York University in May. “It makes a difference forever.”

Source: PEOPLE