New York's largest food rescue organization needed urgent funding. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's surprise, quiet donation will help them feed millions of people this year

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding may have been one of the biggest celebrity events of the summer, but before the couple exchanged vows in New York, they quietly made a much less flashy move. They donated $26 million to charities across the US, including $1 million to City Harvest, New York City's largest food rescue organization.

The donation came at a time when food insecurity was putting more pressure on food pantries and soup kitchens across the city. According to People magazine, City Harvest said the $1 million donation to them will help provide food to more than 2.4 million New Yorkers this summer.

The couple's wider charitable giving was announced on July 2, when a representative confirmed that Swift and Kelce had donated $26 million to at least 20 organizations. The list included food banks, children's hospitals, education programs and animal welfare groups across places that have personal connections to them.


City Harvest was one of the New York organizations included in the donation.

As per People magazine, Jilly Stephens, CEO of City Harvest, said, “We are incredibly grateful for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s generous $1 million donation to City Harvest. This donation is a love letter to New York, and a bold commitment to our efforts to ensure that no New Yorker goes hungry. Their support comes at a critical time, with visits to New York City soup kitchens and food pantries near record highs and expected to increase further in response to federal funding cuts.”

The organization said the $1 million gift will help it continue getting food to people across New York at a particularly difficult time.

The donation came when food banks were seeing higher demand

The timing of the gift was important. City Harvest was already dealing with rising demand, while changes in federal funding were expected to put even more pressure on food assistance programs.

The New York donation was also part of a much larger effort by Swift and Kelce. The Guardian reported that their $26 million giving spree included organizations in New York, Nashville and Kansas City, places that have been important in their personal and professional lives.

Other recipients included Food Bank For NYC, New York Cares, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Harvesters – The Community Food Network, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Feeding America and the ASPCA, according to the Guardian.

Several food banks received $1 million gifts

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank also confirmed a $1 million donation. In a statement, cited by Variety, CEO Melissa Cherney said, “We are incredibly grateful to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for their extraordinarily generous and unexpected gift. As the need across our communities continues to grow, this $1 million donation will go a long way in helping us purchase and distribute the nutritious, culturally appropriate food that Rhode Islanders deserve. I hope their gift inspires others; it has certainly inspired us.”

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank also received $1 million, with the organization saying the donation would help provide approximately 4 million meals to people facing food insecurity in Los Angeles County.

In Kansas City, Harvesters – The Community Food Network received another $1 million donation, described as the equivalent of roughly 2 million meals.

The $26 million donation went beyond food

Food relief was only one part of the couple's charitable giving. Variety reported that the 20 recipients also included Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Grammy In The Schools, Education Through Music, After-School All-Stars, MSK Kids, Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone and Children's Mercy Hospital.

Dolly Parton thanked Swift and Kelce after learning that her Imagination Library had received $2 million.

“Taylor and Travis, it’s Dolly, and I was just told you two are making a donation of $2 million to my Imagination Library. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m blown away and overjoyed with that gratitude. Now, it’s evident that you two have made given back a key part of your lives. So, hey, when you have your firstborn, can I have it? Because that is gonna be one special baby,” Parton said in a video shared on Instagram.

Swift has made charitable giving a regular part of her public life, often donating without making a major announcement herself. During her Eras Tour, food banks and other organizations in cities she visited also revealed donations from the singer.

This time, however, the giving involved both Swift and Kelce, and the total was much larger. The couple's $26 million donation was made shortly before their July wedding at Madison Square Garden, which was later confirmed after weeks of speculation. The wedding has since taken place, but the charitable donations remain one of the quieter parts of the couple's celebrations.