Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has made a donation of £80,000 for the ongoing month of Ramadan in his native Turkey, according to a report in the Mirror.
The donation will cover food and provide aid to Muslims in Turkey who are celebrating Ramadan.
This comes shortly after news that Ozil and some of his Arsenal teammates refused to take a 12.5 per cent pay cut as proposed by the club due to the coronavirus crisis.
Ozil faced massive scrutiny for his decision, but perhaps he took the correct stance as news of another one of his charitable gestures has surfaced.
Ozil made the donation to the organisation Turkish Red Crescent to help aid Muslims during the month of Ramadan.
The sum of money donated by Ozil will cover the ‘iftar’ i.e. the meal eaten at the end of the fast during the day, for nearly 16,000 Muslims from 2,000 families from Turkey and Syria.
Speaking about Ozil’s donation as cited in the Mirror, Kerem Kinik, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent said:
“At the Red Crescent, we stand by those in need 365 days a year. Of course, we do this thanks to donations made by philanthropist friends who follow our work,”
“As donations increase, we will be able to reach even more people in need.”
“Thanks to our brother Mesut, we will be able to deliver packages provided to people in need – delivering them as soon as possible.”
It’s certainly a great gesture by Ozil to help provide food for people during the holy month of Ramadan and shows that the player has a big heart for people in need.