Taylor Swift continues her legacy of generous philanthropy, recently extending her support to a young girl fighting cancer. On Friday, the renowned pop icon made a significant donation of $100,000 to aid two-year-old Lilah, who is battling a rare and aggressive brain cancer, as described on her GoFundMe page.
Efforts to reach Swift’s representatives for comments have so far been unsuccessful. However, the details of how Swift learned about Lilah’s situation remain unclear. An Instagram post dedicated to raising awareness for children with severe illnesses highlighted Lilah’s admiration for the singer.
The social media post shared an image of vibrant friendship bracelets being sold by another young cancer patient to help fund Lilah’s expensive medical treatments. It also noted Lilah’s wish for Taylor Swift to be her best friend, which inspired her mother to create the bracelets. The post added, “Her initials are also LS, so ‘Lilah Strong’ was just perfect for her!”
Although it’s not currently clear how Taylor came to learn of Lilah’s plight, an Instagram post from an account that boosts awareness about children battling severe illnesses revealed the little girl’s love for the songstress.
The post included a photo of colorful friendship bracelets that were being sold by another cancer patient to help raise money to pay for Lilah’s costly treatments.
‘Lilah said she wanted TS to be her best friend which is where her mama’s Lilah’s friend bracelet inspo came from,’ the Instagram post said. ‘Her initials are also LS so Lilah Strong was just perfect for her!’
Taylor Swift made the latest in a long series of life-changing donations when she helped a young girl battling cancer on Friday with a staggering $100,000 donation; pictured on Late Night with Seth Meyers on October 8 in NYC
Swift, 35, made her donation on the GoFundMe fundraiser set up for a young girl named Lilah, who is battling a ‘very rare’ and ‘aggressive form of brain cancer’
It’s unclear how Taylor heard about the fundraiser, but earlier this week a post supporting Lilah mention that she ‘wanted TS to be her best friend…’
According to the GoFundMe set up for Lilah by her aunt, her cancer was discovered after she suffered a seizure at home in February, while her mother was in labor in the hospital with her younger sibling.
Lilah ‘was rushed to the hospital where they did a scan and found a mass on her brain.’
An MRI revealed that she had a stage 4 tumor in her brain, but doctors were able to successfully remove the entire tumor, and Lilah appeared to be recovering well.
‘Later that day she was transferred to a children’s hospital for an MRI where they found out that the mass was a stage 4 tumor.’
But her family got more bad news later that week, when she was diagnosed with a ‘very rare’ and ‘aggressive form of brain cancer.’
The little girl will have to undergo a three-month chemotherapy regimen, as well as three months of stem cell treatments, and costs for Lilah’s family were sure to rack up, as the family would have to essentially live at the hospital for four-week stretches while she was being treated.
Swift’s $100,000 donation on Friday instantly topped the list of donations to Lilah.
The amount represented the full fundraising goal, and the campaign has since raised nearly $178,000 as of Friday night.
According to the fundraiser, Lilah had a seizure in February while her mother was in labor with her younger sibling. Doctor discovered a brain tumor that was successfully removed, but she now has to undergo three months of chemo and three months of stem cell treatments
Taylor’s $100K donation shot to the top of the donations list, and the campaign has since raised nearly $178,000 as of Friday night
Taylor also shared a brief message for Lilah under the Words of Support section of the campaign page. ‘Sending the biggest hug to my friend, Lilah! Love, Taylor’
Taylor also shared a brief message for Lilah under the Words of Support section of the campaign page.
‘Sending the biggest hug to my friend, Lilah! Love, Taylor,’ she wrote.
Fans quickly discovered Taylor’s act of generosity and decided to join in.
As a nod to her interest in numerology and a reference to her lucky number, many fans donated $13 to the campaign.
Taylor’s act of kindness comes just days after her friend Ruby Rose revealed just how generous she is while coming to her defense.
Ruby shot down claims from some fans and critics that Taylor is conservative or sympathetic to acolytes of Donald Trump.
Instead, she highlighted her generosity and said on social media this week that the Shake It Off singer ‘used to scroll GoFundMe like a social media app, clicking “reach their donation” like the “like” button.’
Taylor appears to have done just what Ruby described with her latest donation.
Fans of the pop superstar joined in when they learned of her charity. Many left donations for $13, a reference to Taylor’s lucky number; pictured October 7 in NYC
Swift’s biggest charitable donation was $5 million for relief efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton; pictured with Seth Meyers in NYC on October 8
Earlier this week, her pal Ruby Rose claimed that Taylor scrolls through GoFundMe and donates the entire goal amount, even if they have already raised significant sums; pictured together in 2016 in Beverly Hills
The singer–songwriter has previously helped out other young fans in need, but she has also made far more expansive donations, including an eye-popping $5 million donation from just over a year ago.
The hefty sum was ‘help communities rebuild and recover’ in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, but some social media users blasted Swift for donating only a small portion — just over 0.3 percent — of her $1.6 billion net worth.
Despite the accusations that Taylor has used charity donations for PR purposes, she avoided announcing or posting about her hurricane relief donation on social media.
Similarly, she doesn’t appear to have sounded off about her donation to help little Lilah and her family, though her fans were quick to spread the word and get in on the action once they discovered her generous action.
