Coronavirus: Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds donate $1 million to food banks amid outbreak

Hollywood couple urges people to 'take care of your bodies and hearts'

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are helping to feed those in need during the coronavirus outbreak.

On Monday, the celebrity couple announced that they have donated $1 million (£816,000) to two organisations that operate a network of food banks including Feeding America and Food Banks Canada.

In a post shared on Reynolds’ Instagram and Twitter accounts, the Deadpool actor stated that the coronavirus pandemic had “brutally impacted older adults and low-income families”.

“If you can give, these orgs need our help [sic],” Reynolds added.

“Take care of your bodies and hearts. Leave room for joy. Call someone who’s isolated and might need connection.”

Reynolds also injected a bit of levity into the post with a nod to his playful feud with fellow actor and friend Hugh Jackman, writing: “(Hugh Jackman‘s # is 1-555-[crying emoji]-HUGH).”

The star captioned the written post: “I think we can all agree, Covid-19 is an a**hole.”

Lively also shared her own post on social media, with a message that urged people to “stay connected” and praised communities for looking out for each other.

“Remember the lonely and isolated,” she wrote.

“Facetime, Skype, make a video. Remember the love that can travel through all this. Communities are stepping up – shopping for the elderly, making lunches for children. We can all do something for one another, even if that’s simply staying home.”

The Gossip Girl star also included a joke in her post, writing: “Now can someone please tell Ryan that 'emotional distancing' from his mother in law is not a thing. Nothing can save him.”

Speaking to Variety, Dan Nisbet, vice president of Major Gifts at Feeding America said the organisation was “so grateful” for the couple’s “extremely generous donation”.

“The Feeding America network of 200 food banks is working tirelessly to aid and provide meal assistance to our most vulnerable neighbours — children, the elderly, families struggling with food insecurity and individuals facing job disruptions — throughout our nation during this unprecedented time,” Nisbet said.

“Generosity like theirs will make all the difference.”

Reynolds and Lively are the latest in a long list of celebrities to help those hit hardest by the virus.

Earlier this week, Giorgio Armani donated €1.25m (£1.1m) to hospitals in Italy, including three hospitals in Milan and the Spallanzani hospital in Rome.

The donation also included money for the Civil Protection Agency, a national body in Italy that deals with emergency situations.

Donatella Versace and her daughter, Allegra Versace Beck, also donated €200,000 (£182,000) to the intensive care unit of Milan’s San Raffaele hospital.

“Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this disease and to all the doctors and medical staff who have been working heroically non-stop in the past weeks in the effort to take care of our loved ones,” the Italian mother-daughter duo told WWD in a statement.

“This is when we, as a society, need to stand together and care for one another.”

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