When it comes to using celebrity star power to urge citizens around the world to follow medical experts’ advice on slowing the spread of the coronavirus, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a very vocal presence with his informative and entertaining social media videos. But, now, the Terminator actor is taking his activism even further.
On Tuesday, Schwarzenegger joined fellow actor Edward Norton and a group of philanthropists in launching the Frontline Responders Fund, which seeks to raise $5 million in order to quickly put medical supplies in the hands of healthcare workers. As has been widely reported, there is a growing shortage of masks, gowns, and critical supplies, so when Schwarzenegger saw an opportunity to help, the actor didn’t hesitate to drop a $1 million donation and lend his name to the campaign:
“Our doctors, nurses and hospital staff are the real action heroes of this crisis. I just play one in the movies. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to provide them with personal protective equipment right now to keep them safe as they fight this virus, so when I heard about Flexport.org’s plan, this was a no-brainer to me,” said Arnold Schwarzenegger. “With all of the courageous work they are doing on the frontlines to keep us safe, buying a few hundred thousand masks with a million dollars is the least I can do. Please take a moment to join me in supporting our heroes.”
According to The Daily Beast, the fund has already secured a $25,000 donation from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and computer scientist Paul Graham matched Schwarzenegger’s $1 million contribution. In a statement addressing the fears and anxiety of healthcare workers, Norton said, “We can’t wait on someone else to solve this problem.”
Meanwhile, true to form, Schwarzenegger is hard at work promoting the campaign to his millions of Twitter followers:
I never believed in sitting on the couch and complaining about how bad things are, I always believed we should all do our part to make things better. This is a simple way to protect our real action heroes on the frontlines in our hospitals, and I’m proud to be part of it. https://t.co/F7s1dh0YFz
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) March 24, 2020
(Via GoFundMe, The Daily Beast)
