By Edward Vamboi
In an unprecedented development, Germany and Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger announced that his Foundation will spearhead an initiative to provide 60,000 face masks to low income traders in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown in the fight against COVID-19.
Rudiger’s Foundation, Antonio Rüdiger For Sierra Leone, will partner with Madam Wokie, a Sierra Leone based fashion brand, and LunchBoxGift a not-for-profit initiative born out of the Ebola epidemic, for the initiative under the hash tag #MaskUpFreetown.
“Our target for this campaign is $30,000. I will pledge $5,000 to kick start this campaign….Keep safe and save lives!” Rüdiger tweeted.
Rüdiger also thanked fellow English Premier League stars Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud, N’Golo Kante and Callum Hudson-Odoi for donating an additional $5,000 to the cause.
This is not the first time that Rüdiger, whose mother is originally from Sierra Leone, has stepped up to help the West African nation.
In December last year, 11 children in Sierra Leone received sponsorships from Rüdiger for corrective surgeries aimed at correcting cleft lips, burns and deformations.
