What you need to know
This holiday season, Taylor Swift is giving back.
The 36-year-old pop superstar has donated to several organizations over the past month, most recently helping children by donating to both Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville and the Kansas City charity Operation Breakthrough.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center shared news of Swift’s donation on Tuesday, Dec. 30, noting that she has donated to both the hospital and its adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer program.
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“We are so grateful to Taylor Swift for her generous gift to Monroe Carell. She is a true partner in our efforts to provide a brighter, healthier future for the children and communities we serve,” said a statement from Juan C. Salazar, MD, MPH, chief of pediatrics at Vanderbilt Health, system pediatrician chair at Monroe Carell, and the James C. Overall Professor.
Salazar continued, “These gifts are so timely. Of course, this is the holiday season, a particularly challenging time for hospital stays, and the number of patients and families who are turning to us for care continues to grow. This makes a difference for all of us.”
A separate statement from the hospital specifically highlighted Swift’s donations to AYA cancer programs. “Thanks to the generosity of donors like Taylor Swift, the future of adolescent and young adult cancer research and care is full of advances and possibilities,” said Debra Friedman, MD, M.A., chief of pediatric hematology and oncology at Monroe Carell and holder of the E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Pediatric Oncology. “Her gifts enable our team to personalize cancer treatment to the unique challenges patients face, leading to improved outcomes.”
Operation Breakthrough, which works to “provide safe and loving educational environments for children in poverty and empower families through advocacy, emergency relief, and education,” according to its website, shared an Instagram post about Swift’s donation on the same day.
“Thank you @taylorswift for supporting Operation Breakthrough,” the caption reads. “We are so grateful for your kindness in championing creativity, education, and opportunity for more than 750 students.”
Throughout December, Swift made donations to additional organizations including Feeding America, American Heart Association, MusiCares, CMA Foundation, and ACM Lifting Lives.
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The “Karma” singer spent Christmas Day with her fiancé, Travis Kelce, cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs’ final home game at Arrowhead Stadium. There, she gave generous tips to stadium employees, including a woman named Robin who posted that she had received $600 from Swift.
Robyn said in a Facebook post that Swift was “running around saying Merry Christmas to everyone,” before approaching her and saying, “Thank you so much for all your hard work for Christmas. Please take this.”
Kelce and Swift “had big smiles on their faces and kept saying, ‘Merry Christmas, thank you for all your hard work on Christmas,'” Robin recalled. “My heart froze,” she said, adding, “Of course I said, ‘Merry Christmas, thank you so much.'”
