Tennis star Naomi Osaka announced her plans to donate her prize money from a tournament next week to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.
“Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really can’t catch a break,” the athlete tweeted Saturday (August 14). Before the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti over the weekend, the country was still reeling from the assassination of its president, Jovenel Moïse, and a growing humanitarian crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m about to play a tournament this week and I’ll give all the prize money to relief efforts for Haiti,” Osaka added, referring to the Western & Southern Open. “I know our ancestor's blood is strong we’ll keep rising.”
At least 1,297 people have died following the earthquake, while thousands more remain displaced and injured. Experts are also monitoring a tropical depression headed towards Haiti as relief efforts continue. In 2010, the nation was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that left at least 200,000 people dead.
Osaka’s tournament begins Monday (August 16) in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is expected to earn a little over $255,000 in prize money, according to The Huffington Post. The 23-year-old was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian father.