Rod Stewart donated a “big cheque” to help a disabled charity group have its voice be heard by the U.S. government.
The plight of a cluster of people from Louisiana, who decided to trek to the American capital Washington D.C. to protest proposed Medicaid (government health insurance) cuts, was featured on CNN news show Erin Burnett OutFront.
Led by Angela Lorio, the group, known as Trach Mommas of Louisiana, had only raised $7,000 (£5,300) of the $30,000 (£23,000) needed to get them all to Washington.
After Rod heard about their financial troubles, he emailed his management and instructed them to track down the individuals.
“I’ve just seen something on CNN that’s heartbreaking,” he messaged. “It was a group of families with severely disabled children who are driving to Washington to confront about health care cuts. See if you can find out who they are. I’d like to help in some way.”
“He was so touched and heartbroken and actually teary,” Arnold Stiefel, Rod’s manager for more than 30 years, told CNN. “He said to me, ‘As a father of eight I have to do something now.'”
The talent agent told Stewart he couldn’t think of a better cause.
Upon receiving the donation, Angela, who co-founded Trach Mommas of Louisiana, says she was overwhelmed.
“So I just deposited the biggest cheque of my life, and it couldn’t be from a more amazing person. Rod Stewart… What? Rod Stewart, like, the Rod Stewart, saw this on CNN, and he was so moved,” she said in a video message, which also featured her severely disabled four-year-old son John Paul.
“Medicaid being cut, it’s not just numbers. And to have a person like Rod Stewart be so touched that he would do something like this to pay for the rest of our bus trip, it just blows my mind. It really, really, blows my mind.”
