George and Amal Clooney donated $500,000 to the "March for Our Lives" demonstration. (Reuters)
George and Amal Clooney announced on Tuesday a $500,000 donation to the “March for Our Lives” demonstration organized by the Florida school shooting survivors expected to take place next month.
The couple made the donation in the name of their 8-month-old twins, Ella and Alexander, and added their family will be attending the “March for Our Lives” on March 24.
"Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School," George Clooney said in a statement, according to Reuters. “Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side by side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country, and in the name of our children Ella and Alexander, we’re donating $500,000 to help pay for this groundbreaking event.
“Our children’s lives depend on it.”
Five students who survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., announced on their plans to push for better gun control.
“The ‘March For Our Lives’ is going to be in every major city and we are organizing it so students everywhere can beg for our lives. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about the red and blue, the GOP and the Democrats, this is about adults and kids,” Cameron Kasky, a junior at the high school, told Fox News Sunday.
Both the event and the Clooney family's pledge caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey as well, who tweeted that she plans to match their donation.
"George and Amal, I couldn't agree with you more. I am joining forces with you and will match your $500,000 donation to 'March For Our Lives.' These inspiring young people remind me of the Freedom Riders of the 60s who also said we've had ENOUGH and our voices will be heard," she tweeted Tuesday.
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The march is a collaboration with the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. It’s also one of the several rallies being held in an effort to end gun violence and mass shootings.
George and Amal Clooney have previously made major donations to other causes. The actor and the lawyer previously donated $1 million in August after the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va. They made the donation to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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