Photo Credit: Eva Rinaldi
Taylor Swift donates $13,000 to two moms who are struggling to make ends meet this year.
Following a Washington Post story on unemployed Americans during the pandemic, Swift reached out to help. Swift’s favorite number is 13, which may explain the odd-number for the donation amount. Two mothers interviewed in the newspaper were scheduled for eviction hearings in January. Swift made the donations through a GoFundMe set up to help the women.
“I’m so sorry for everything you’ve had to go through this year and wanted to send you this gift, from one Nashville girl to another,” Swift wrote in her donation message to Nikki Cornwell. Cornwell told the Post that she was more than $4,000 behind in rent and feared she would be evicted next year.
“No one should have to feel the kind of stress that’s been put on you,” Swift writes in her donation to Shelbie Selweski. “I hope you and your beautiful family have a great holiday season. Love, Taylor.”
Selewski says she had to stop working just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Her daughter was born with a collapsed lung, making her high-risk. Selewski worked as a medical receptionist and felt her exposure to the virus would be too risky with her daughter.
This isn’t the only time Taylor Swift has stepped up to bat for people who are down on their luck. In April this year, she donated to help a record store in Nashville keep their employees on their payroll during the shutdown.
“Taylor generously offered some direct relief to my staff and to cover three months of our health care costs for our group-insurance plan,” Grimey’s owner confirmed at the time. “It’s a huge deal to us, and now I have some peace of mind as we apply for [Small Business Administration] loans to pay rent, vendors, and other expenses. This assistance from Ms. Swift helps give us a real shot at coming back on the other side of this.” Grimey’s celebrated its 20th-anniversary last year.
Swift is continuing to reach out to people who may need assistance during this challenging time. She’s also donated over $200K to LGBT causes and fighting for equality.
She also dropped a new surprise album called Evermore at midnight tonight (December 10). Swift describes as a sister album to Folklore. A new video for the song “Willow” was released alongside the new album.
“Ever since I was 13, I’ve been excited about turning 31 because it’s my lucky number backward, which is why I wanted to surprise you with this now. You’ve all been so caring, supportive, and thoughtful on my birthdays, and so this time I thought I would give you something,” Swift wrote on Twitter.