Survivor — and philanthropist — Rod Stewart
Singer Rod Stewart stepped in to pay five-figure travel costs for a group of children with disabilities who traveled to Washington to protest the GOP healthcare bill that would cut Medicaid, CNN reported Wednesday.
Stewart said he acted after seeing news coverage about the children, who didn’t have the $30,000 it would take for them to travel from Baton Rouge, La., to Washington.
“He was so touched and heartbroken and actually teary,” Stewart’s campaign manager Arnold Stiefe said.
“Some of you may know that I live in America and pay my taxes here,” the British singer said. “I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican, but I am a father.”
Angela Lorio, the organizer of the Trach Mommas, an advocacy group that supports families with children with disabilities, said the check from the musician was “the biggest check of her life” and that she was grateful to Stewart for paying for the trip.
“It was beyond our wildest dreams — not just anybody paid for it, but Rod Stewart!” she said. “God always hears your prayers and answers them — they just might not be answered in the way that you expect.”
In May 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. It had been previously reported he suffered from a benign vocal cord nodule. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his voice, and he had to re-learn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Stewart