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Naomi Osaka And Other Celebrities Are Calling For Help For Haiti

Naomi Osaka, pictured playing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 26, is among the celebrities vowing support for the people of Haiti.
Clive Brunskill
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Naomi Osaka, pictured playing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 26, is among the celebrities vowing support for the people of Haiti.

Celebrities including Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka are expressing their support for the Haitian people and calling on their followers to contribute to relief efforts.

Haiti — which is being drenched by a tropical storm — is still awaiting widespread assistance in the wake of the earthquake that killed more than 1,400 people and injured nearly 7,000.

Osaka, whose father is Haitian, has said she will give any prize money she wins at this week's Western & Southern Open tournament to support earthquake recovery efforts there.

Osaka is seeded second for this year's event in Cincinnati, and has a bye into the second round, notes The Washington Post. The women's singles champion will receive $255,220.

Osaka — who is ranked No. 2 in the world — has notably used her platform to advocate for causes like Black Lives Matter and mental health in the past.

And she's not the only public figure now rallying support for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

Rapper Wyclef Jean, who is from Haiti (and once ran for president there), posted a video to Instagram calling on people to "please do your part so we can help the country."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Wyclef Jean (@wyclefjean)

Meanwhile, rapper Cardi B tweeted that she has a "soft spot" for Haiti and its people, and offered her prayers.

And chef José Andrés's World Central Kitchen is on the ground in Haiti, preparing food at multiple kitchens in Port-au-Prince, Jeremie and Les Cayes to distribute to hospital staff and patients.

Chef Tim Kilcoyne, WCK's director of relief special ops, said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday, "Lots going on, our teams are here on the ground, we'll have more info to share later. But right now we're getting as many meals out to people that are in need as possible."

Writer Roxane Gay tweeted that she is donating to the microfinance institution Fonkoze as well as the nonprofit Hope for Haiti, and later shared a Google Doc listing other "trusted organizations" for emergency earthquake response.

Actor and Hamilton creator Lin Manuel-Miranda wrote that he is donating to Fonkoze and the global response organization CORE, and encouraged his social media followers to do the same.

Here's more on how you can help relief efforts in Haiti.


This piece first appeared on the Morning Edition live blog.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Rachel Treisman (she/her) is a writer and editor for the Morning Edition live blog, which she helped launch in early 2021.
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