Andrew Yang is handing out $250 to 20,000 Americans after receiving a $5 million donation from Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey this week.
The fund, which was announced on Thursday, went to Humanity Forward — the former Democratic presidential candidate’s nonprofit committed to supporting universal basic income (UBI), among other causes.
Dorsey, who endorsed Yang during his presidential run, announced the seven-figure donation on Yang’s podcast “Yang Speaks,” pointing out that UBI is “long overdue.”
UBI was one of Yang’s key platforms during his campaign, promising every American who is at least 18 years of age $1,000 each month.
In this scaled version of his plan, Yang will distribute Dorsey’s donation to 20,000 Americans who have lost their jobs or suffered some form of economic loss due to COVID-19.
“Thrilled to get cash relief into people’s hands thanks to you Jack! It will make an enormous difference to so many and make the case for a more human-centered economy. We can do this for everyone,” Yang told Dorsey in a tweet.
In an interview with CNN, Yang argued that most of the jobs lost to COVID-19 will not return.
“This is one reason why I’m advocating our federal government has to pass enormous stimulus measures to keep us from teetering into a new Great Depression because that unfortunately is where we are heading right now.”
Yang calls his version of UBI the “Freedom Dividend.” Before Dorsey’s donation, Humanity Forward shelled out $2 million for those impacted by the pandemic.
“Not only will Jack’s donation directly impact tens of thousands of people in need during the current economic downturn, it will help Humanity Forward and our movement continue to make a case for universal basic income in the United States,” Yang said, according to Rolling Stone. “We know UBI for every American is possible, and this $5 million from Start Small is going to help demonstrate what is possible for families across the country.”
Start Small is a fund through which Dorsey — whose current net worth is $4.8 billion, according to Forbes — plans to give away $1 billion from his shares of Square, another company under his name.
“I want to give out all my money in my lifetime. I want to see the impacts, selfishly, in my lifetime,” Dorsey told Yang. “I want to make sure that we’re helping people.”
Dorsey’s donation through Yang reportedly lifted the spirits of one mother who lost her child to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
“My younger sister is still grieving the loss of her 4 mos son to SIDS in March. This helps so much. Thank you,” the recipient’s sister wrote on Twitter.
Feature Images via David Becker / Getty Images (left) and Win McNamee / Getty Images (right)
