Japanese Rockstar Yoshiki Donates $90,000 to Meals on Wheels for the Elderly in LA

Legendary Japanese rock star recently donated 10 million yen ($90,000) in support of multiple Meals on Wheels branches across Los Angeles.

Yoshiki, who has been living in Los Angeles for the past 20 years, made the generous donation through his non-profit organization Yoshiki Foundation America.

“I think now is the time to support each other. It’s time to give, not take, especially when there are people who are vulnerable during the current crisis,” he was quoted as saying.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic poses a much bigger threat to the elderly, efforts to support seniors should be a top priority, the CDC has urged communities.

Earlier this week, Yoshiki sat down with with Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and director of the Center for iPS Cell Research, to discusses the effects of COVID-19. Among the topics discussed was how the virus affects society’s elders.

In California, senior citizens have been advised to isolate themselves at home and this has made their access to food quite challenging.

In times like these, many seniors can only depend on federally supported programs like Meals on Wheels which are tasked to address the nutritional and social needs of older people.

“I wanted to make a donation to the elderly people who have difficulty going out and cannot get enough to eat. If I can help just a little, then maybe others can also be inspired to give. This situation is not just limited to L.A., and I myself am having more difficulty than usual getting food. I hope it will end soon,” the Japanese music icon shared.

Yoshiki has reportedly been helping Meals on Wheels for almost a decade now and his most recent donation came in the form of $3,000 each to the program’s locations in Long Beach, Culver City, West Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Downtown L.A., Orange County, Pasadena, and Santa Monica.

A renowned philanthropist, Yoshiki has supported numerous other humanitarian causes, including a combined $100,000 donation to Australian Wildfire Relief and the Rainforest Trust as well as $100,000 disaster relief for Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas in 2017.

Back in December, the X Japan frontman was named one of Asia’s 30 Heroes of Philanthropy in 2019 by Forbes Asia.

Feature Image via yoshikiofficial

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