The Weeknd has donated $2.5 million for emergency relief to aid the humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
A United Nations World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador since 2021, the Toronto singer (real name Abel Tesfaye) made the generous donation through his XO Humanitarian Fund. The World Food Programme has been assisting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza during the crisis as they face starvation during their siege under Israel.
According to the WFTP, Tesfaye's donation is expected to provide 820 metric tons of food to feed approximately 173,000 Palestinians in the next two weeks. The food parcels contain items such as fresh bread, fortified date bars, canned food, wheat flour, pasta, tomato paste, and oil.
“This conflict has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe beyond reckoning,” Corinne Fleischer, WFP’s Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe Region, said in a statement. “WFP is working round the clock to provide aid in Gaza but a major scale up is needed to address the desperate level of hunger we are seeing. Our teams need safe and sustained humanitarian access, and continued support from donors to reach as many people as we can. We thank Abel for this valuable contribution towards the people of Palestine. We hope others will follow Abel’s example and support our efforts.”
Last year, Tesfaye raised $5 million for the WFP to fight global hunger, including $1 to the Fund from each ticket sold for his North American Stadium Tour.