James Taylor and his wife have donated $1 million to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA as the northeast United States (mainly the New York City metro area) continues to be ravaged by more confirmed cases of COVID-19 by the day.
The cash donation, which was confirmed by hospital officials on Tuesday, will directly benefit the President’s Emergency Response Fund, which was created following the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013 to provide flexible resources that can be deployed quickly to support immediate needs. It will also help the hospital purchase supplies and equipment, repurpose space, and further the research required to find potential treatments and means of prevention.
Taylor’s father actually served as a chief resident and conducted research at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and it was also where James was born on March 12th, 1948. His wife Kim Taylor has also spent the last five years as a member of the board for the MassGeneral Hospital for Children.
“There is no question that it’s a point of pride for New Englanders to claim the MGH as their hospital – our hospital – and this is especially true today with the threat coming from a new and insidious virus,” Taylor said in a statement. “Kim and I want to be part of this fight. We have been so inspired by the courage and sacrifice of the health care heroes in the trenches who are working so hard to protect us all.”
Kim also added, “The MGH is a place that is looked to for leadership – clinical, scientific and ethical – in humanity’s fight against the danger that is around us. We are proud to support a medical center that is leading the way on so many fronts.”
Taylor was scheduled to embark on a coast-to-coast spring/summer tour alongside fellow veteran singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, but with the current state of the live music industry in indefinite hiatus along with Browne’s confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis revealed on Wednesday, it appears those shows will no longer happen.
Hopefully, Taylor’s Break Shot spoken-word-based memoir will still arrive sometime later this year.
Click here to read the entire announcement shared by the hospital.
[H/T Rolling Stone]