New York author and creator of the #BlackPantherChallenge, Frederick Joseph, raised over $1,000,000 through his #RentRelief campaign on GoFundMe to help families who find themselves in a difficult moment paying bills during COVID19. Frederick began the #RentRelief effort on Friday, March 27th and quickly raised $250,000. He was joined in his effort by four other campaigns, who collectively helped reach the million-dollar mark.

Through the campaign, over 5,000 families have been supported.

Frederick saw the need when followers were asking if he could help them -- so he has. All his followers have to do is respond under designated posts with their story and CashApp, Zelle, or PayPal account and he sends chosen people $200 to help them.

The effort was shared widely and the requests poured in. During the campaign, Frederick has received over 500,000 requests on social media for assistance.

Donations were given by celebrities and public figures such as actress Patricia Arquette, who donated $10,000, journalist Soledad O'Brien, who donated $5,000, and New York Times 1619 project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones, who donated $1,000.

Frederick ended the campaign today via a tweet and instagram post thanking his followers and donors.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/FredTJoseph/status/1279030528449097729?s=20

Instagram Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CCLiTdlndAY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Frederick Joseph also successfully created the #BlackPantherChallenge, an international movement that raised over $950,000 to send over 73,000 children to see the Black Panther film for free in 2018. He’s been rallying behind community based GoFundMes ever since, having raised over $2.5 million to date for similar good causes.

GoFundMe Page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/coronavirus-rent-relief-fund

Campaign Recipient Response Example: https://twitter.com/Pjewelz83/status/1246804860521123841?s=20