Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively donate $500,000 to Canada’s at-risk youth

• Ryan Reynolds and wife Blake Lively have donated half-a-million dollars to at-risk youths facing homelessness in Canada.
• The couple donated $250,000 to Covenant House Vancouver and $250,000 to Covenant House Toronto.
• The nonprofit, an organization that the 44-year-old actor has supported for a long time provides homeless youth with basic needs like food and shelter.

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Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are donating $250,000 to Covenant House Vancouver and $250,000 to Covenant House Toronto to help the nonprofit provid at-risk, homeless and trafficked youth in Canada.

The Covenant House, which has been supporting youths for over 40 years, , has “helped transform and save the lives” of over 1 million runaway, homeless and trafficked young people. It supports about 74,000 youths on an annual basis.

Kristy Hayter of Covenant House Vancouver posted on social media about the couple’s donation, describing it as “an incredible act of kindness and philanthropy.”

“Ryan and Blake truly understand that young people who are facing homelessness deserve unconditional love and absolute respect,” Krista Thompson, CEO of Covenant House Vancouver, wrote.

Ryan always gives back to Canada, his home country, and has been “a long-time friend” to the organization.

“Covenant House provides love, hope and stability for at-risk youth who’ve fled physical, emotional and sexual abuse,” Ryan is quoted in the post. “They do the work of heroes.”

The actor said giving to Covenant House isn’t a donation but “an investment in compassion and empathy; something the world needs more of.”

“The young people who pass through the doors of Covenant House more often than not have a story marked by extraordinary trauma,” Ryan said. “They are so much more than that trauma. They have so much to offer the world.”

According to the organization, the donation comes in a timely manner as the coronavirus pandemic has increased unemployment and anxiety among the people the Covenant House serves.

Ryan urged others to donate, too. Gifts made to Covenant House Vancouver through Dec. 31 will be matched by Reynolds and Lively.

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This isn’t the first time the pair has extended monetary support to an organization.

Early this year, Ryan and Blake donated $1 million to food drive organizations Feeding America and Food Banks Canada to help with the pandemic.

Then, the couple donated $200,000 to The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in May, in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Source: Yahoo!