Naomi Osaka To Donate Winnings to Haiti Earthquake Relief
August 20, 2021
Following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on August 14, four-time Grand Slam tennis champion, Naomi Osaka, has pledged to donate her earnings from the Western and Southern Open tournament to support relief efforts and is encouraging her fans to support as well. This latest natural disaster, followed immediately thereafter by punishing floods from Tropical Storm Grace, have caused widespread destruction and loss of life in the Caribbean nation.
With a death toll of 2,100 and climbing, search and rescue teams are racing to find survivors in collapsed buildings and rubble. More than 60,000 homes have been destroyed and at least 9,900 people are injured with many more still missing. These disasters come on top of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise last month.
Osaka, whose father is Haitian, has consistently used her platform to call attention to causes important to her, including mental health and Black Lives Matter. In May, she expanded her Play Academy to the country to provide grants and capacity-building training for community organizations in order to boost girls’ access to and participation in sports.
The earthquake is believed to have occurred along the same fault line as the devasting tremor 11 years ago, according to World Vision. The magnitude 7.0 temblor that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, was one more disaster for a small, but proud country that has suffered from decades of political, economic, social setbacks and exploitation. With approximately 3 million people affected, the 2010 earthquake was the most devastating natural disaster ever experienced in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.
UNICEF has estimated that nearly half a million Haitian children are without access to shelter, clean water, medical treatments and appropriate nutrition. Damage to hospitals has hurt a medical response already hampered by limited access to supplies and doctors. The US and other countries have sent aid workers and materials to Haiti to assist in the recovery.
Osaka said that this was the beginning of her efforts to help Haitians recover from this latest tragedy and plans to do more.
“I feel like I’m not really doing that much,” Osaka said at Monday’s tournament press conference. “I’m trying to figure out what I can do. The prize money thing was the first thing I thought I could do that would raise the most awareness. I guess that is the reason I announced it.”
If you are interested in contributing to relief efforts, our partners at Goals Haiti have shared ways to support local emergency response efforts.