KUALA LUMPUR, October 9 — A struggling bookstore in Norwich, UK, that that held a crowdfunding exercise to keep its business afloat after being badly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic was pleasantly surprised after receiving a donation from a celebrity.
Bookbugs and Dragon Tales owner Leanne Fridd had launched an online crowd funder on Thursday evening, as she looked to raise £15,000 (RM77,120) to allow the business "breathing space" and to do more outreach work with children.
Fridd told Daily Mail that to her and her husband's surprise just a few days after kicking it off, they managed to collect a third of their target fund through a donation made under the name ‘Russell Ira Crowe’, aka the famous Hollywood star.
The discovery left both Fridd and her husband Dan overjoyed, with Crowe said to have donated £5,000 (RM25,716).
"We made the crowd funder at about ten to five and (Russell Crowe) made the donation at about half ten and we were in bed at the time.
"My husband and I were already incredibly shocked, amazed, and thrilled because so many people have said so many lovely things and been so generous and made us feel so valued.
"We were already on a high and then we saw that, and we were just like, 'what is happening?' This is insane,” Fridd said.
The 43-year-old also told BBC that both she and her husband ended up chanting Crowe’s name in front of one of their daughters after finding out about it in the morning.
She also confirmed that it was indeed Crowe who had made the donation donated and believes that the actor heard of her shop and the appeal on social media via a friend of a friend.
"It's definitely, definitely him, 100 per cent, we know the connection is there, and we had seen the person (who knows him) had retweeted it.
"I have heard that this is what he is like — he is really supportive and just wants to make a difference. It's bonkers."
Fridd added that she was also touched by the other donations received from the public, in particular a £100 donation from a person whose house went up in flames just last month.
"I cried at every single donation from £1 to £5,000 because we know people are struggling and we're struggling a bit as well.
"She was homeless and yet she donated £100. It's those things that are just mind blowing."
The Covid-19 pandemic led Fridd having to use up her savings to support her family, apart from having borrowed a considerable amount when the bookstore opened in 2019.
"I've had to cut our staff hours and work more myself — so the reason we launched the crowd funder is because it will free me up a little bit to start to explore grant funding and everything we can to ensure that as many children as possible have access to books,” she said.
Although the amount won’t completely get the bookstore out of its financial quagmire, Fridd said that it's enough to pay an extra staff member for the shop.
She added that it would also give them the ‘time to breathe and explore things that we really believe in’, which include giving away books to underprivileged children and holding outreach sessions in rural communities.
Fridd’s crowdfund has amassed a total of £17,000 at the time of writing.
This is not the first time Crowe been involved in charitable acts, with the award-winning actor known for his generosity.
In August 2020, he donated £5,000 to a restaurant in Beirut, Lebanon called Le Chef on behalf of the late chef, Anthony Bourdain.
Daily Mail reported that the Gladiator actor also donated £180,000 to a primary school near his home in rural Australia.
The money went towards a project to construct a swimming pool at the school following a pupil's drowning at a nearby beach in 2001.
