Celebs
Soccer Star is Youngest to Top ‘Giving List’ for Donating Millions
- Marcus Rashford has been recognized as the youngest person on Sunday Times Giving List.
- Marcus has a personal net worth of £16 million ($23 million).
- He was able to raise a total of £20 million ($28 million) in his campaign supporting programs for children against poverty and hunger.
Twenty-three-year-old Manchester United player Marcus Rashford has been recognized as the youngest person to make it to the top list of the Sunday Times Giving List.
The Sunday Times Giving List is part of the United Kingdom’s Rich List — a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the UK — which tracks the most generous philanthropists according to their wealth and amount of donations for good causes.
Marcus, with a reported personal net worth of £16 million ($23 million), was able to raise a total of £20 million ($28 million) comprised of his own donations and others who responded to his campaign supporting programs for children against poverty and hunger.
In 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marcus insistently lobbied the UK government not to cut its funds for free school lunches.
Having experienced hunger himself during his younger years, this campaign became more of a personal fight for him, making sure that children in need would not have to suffer further from hunger throughout the summer. His persistence paid off, when the government laid £170 million ($240 million) worth of funds for this cause.
Marcus, as he champions the hungry children, won the Professional Footballers Merit Award, and was recommended by Boris Johnson to receive the Member of the British Empire (MBE) award.
“As a young Black man from Wythenshawe, never did I think I would be accepting an MBE, never mind an MBE at the age of 22,” Marcus said.
Liverpool team captain Jordan Henderson acknowledged Marcus’ initiatives, saying, “He has battled against food poverty, given a voice to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have one, and used his own reputation for the benefit of others.”
Meanwhile, Marcus’s zeal over his pursuit to help the hungry children is far from over. He has established the Child Food Poverty Task Force, where he collaborates with many of UK’s biggest supermarkets to help end child hunger.
FareShare, a non-profit dedicated to fighting hunger and food waste in the UK, recognized Marcus’ efforts in making children a priority in the fight against hunger. He was bestowed ambassador because of such goodwill.
“His own experience of relying on free school meals to eat brings authenticity and compassion to his campaigning, and his status as a Premier League footballer means people and politicians sit up and take notice,” Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare said.
Source: Good News Network
