The Coronavirus outbreak has arguably disrupted the world and altered our reality as we know it. People are out of work, grocery stores cannot keep up with the overwhelming demand for necessities, and many states are in a full lockdown. In Pennsylvania, Governor Wolf issued a “stay-at-home” order for Philadelphia and many of its surrounding suburbs, along with Monroe and Allegheny Counties. School closures in the state have also been extended until at least April 6th, leaving countless students at home. Amongst the chaos of this virus, there are several ways Philly has come together to help those who are most vulnerable during this time.
On March 20th, the Ertz Family Foundation, run by Eagles tight end Zach Ertz and his wife Julie, announced that they donated $100,000 to Philabundance. Philabundance is an important organization in the Philadelphia region, and serves nearly 90,000 meals to Philadelphia’s needy during the week. Speaking about their contribution, Zach said, “When we started our foundation two years ago, our goal was to be a light for our Philadelphia community. During these very challenging times, Julie and I are committed to acknowledging the issues at hand and to be a part of the solution. Philabundance has an unbelievable track record in our city and we believe there is no better partner to help us solve the food insecurity challenges presented by COVID-19.”
Other celebrities connected to Philly are doing charitable works during this time, like It’s Always Sunny stars Rob McElhenny and Kaitlin Olson. On March 20th, McElhenny announced on his Twitter that he along with wife Kaitlin set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Philabundance. Along with the set up of the page, he said that they would match all donations for March 20th and 21st up to $25,000. As of March 24th, the fundraiser has raised $52,990.
While some took a philanthropic route, others like Eagles center Jason Kelce used humor to convey a very important message during this difficult time. On Instagram, Kelce shared a video of him holding his young daughter Wyatt in his arms while discussing the importance of following the rules local governments are issuing, giving back to our communities, and helping out others in whatever ways we can. At the end of the end of the video, Kelce moves his hand on his daughters body to reveal her shirt that says “Dallas sucks.” Even in these tough times, Kelce shows humor and reminds us to never forget about our least favorite NFL team.
At this point, none of us truly know when our “normal” will be back again. But until then, its important to do what we can to be careful, look out for our most vulnerable, and show compassion as that will be what gets us through.
