Taylor Swift made major donation to local food bank charity before playing Seattle shows

SEATTLE — Taylor Swift made a major donation to a Western Washington charity focused on food.

Taylor Swift’s two-night stand at Lumen Field brought fans together and had a major economic impact on the city of Seattle. Her tour could be the highest-grossing musical tour in history, and with all that money coming in, it appears the singer decided to share the wealth.

Food Lifeline, the charity that helps supply food banks and services across our region, received a donation from Swift. We spoke to the spokesperson for the group Friday morning and confirmed that she had indeed used her Eras tour stop in Seattle as a chance to give to the group.

The donation could potentially buy food or make sure that Food Lifeline can supply it in some fashion. It’s possibly one of the largest charitable gifts the group has received this year.

“They’ve asked us not to share the number with you, but I can tell you that the donation will provide several thousand pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to our more than 400 food banks across Western Washington,” Food Lifeline spokesperson Mark Coleman said.

Coleman stressed that perishable food like fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products could be the focus for purchases and supplies with the donated funds.

“Those foods are difficult for our food banks to procure on a regular basis,” Coleman said.

The donation from Swift is also a way for Food Lifeline to build awareness about food insecurity in our community, and Coleman says it can only raise the charity’s profile.

“I’m a little too old to be a “Swiftie,” but her fans are a younger gen that is very motivated to end hunger. So when we see this kind of donation, we know that conversation is happening out there,” he said.

Swift actually delivered the donation before the shows even took place, according to Coleman.

He and Food Lifeline hope that the Swift donation actually spurs her fans and others to also donate to Food Lifeline to help the organization’s efforts.

We spoke with some analysts who said Swift’s two nights performing in Seattle were going to have a major impact on the economy of our region as a whole since many people flew into our area from other locales to see the shows.

Some estimates pegged the impact at millions of dollars in addition to the impact of her donation to Food Lifeline.

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