Just a few days after being turned down for wanting to adopt a new daughter from Malawi, a country that she has helped financially for several years, Madonna is reaching out to another country. She is coming to the aid of Monday's earthquake victims in central Italy. Her spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg, confirmed that the pop star donated a "substantial amount" but she did not say how much.
However, according to the Associated Press, Fernando Caparso, mayor of Pacentro – an Italian village shaken by the earthquake, where Madonna's paternal grandparents lived until 1919 – appealed to the singer for help and says she donated half a million dollars Tuesday to help residents of the Abruzzo region of Italy, where the 6.3 earthquake left more than 200 people dead and some 50,000 homeless. Most of the donation, Caparso said, would go to locations hit hardest, which includes L'Aquila, a city 60 miles from Pacentro.
"I am happy to lend a helping hand to the town that my ancestors are from," Madonna said in a statement. "My heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones or their homes."
