The Weeknd is giving back to the community where he grew up.
Toronto’s Scarborough Health Network (SHN) announced Monday that the singer has donated $500,000 from sales of his XO face masks to its COVID-19 Emergency Fund.
“I was raised in Scarborough and felt it was important to give back to the community that raised me during the hard times of this pandemic,” said The Weeknd, in a release.
The SHN’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund supports frontline workers by providing ventilators, ICU beds, ECG monitors, personal protective equipment and other urgent needs.
"Thanks to The Weeknd's phenomenal support for our hospitals, and that of thousands of donors over the past several months, we are ensuring that our health care teams have everything they need to safely treat all of our patients,” said SHN Foundation president and CEO Alicic Vandermeer, in a release.
The Weeknd was born Abel Tesfaye to Ethiopian immigrants Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye. After his parents split, he was raised by his mother and grandmother in Scarborough, a Toronto suburb.