Madonna Sends Earthquake Aid to Wrong Italian City?

photo credit: archeoastronomia

In a perhaps somewhat misguided attempt at philanthropy following her recently denied second Malawi adoption, Madonna has decided to donate money to help the victims of the devastating earthquakes that ravaged L’Aquila, Italy earlier this week.

Unfortunately, Madonna has donated her money to a town that was not actually in the quake zone.

“I am happy to lend a helping hand to the town that my ancestors are from,” Madonna told People magazine. 

Madonna reportedly donated a sizable about of money (rumored to be $500k) to the small Italian town that was home to her grandparents. However, that town, Pacentro, is actually about 60 miles away from L’Aquila and was comparatively unscathed by the quakes. RAI and other Italian news agencies have reported that the quakes were felt as far away as Rome, but with little damage.

In the end, the outcome is positive though, as Associated Press reports indicate that the mayor of Pacentro, Fernando Caparso, announced that the money would in fact be redistributed to areas harder hit by the disaster.

It’s always difficult to decide whether celebrities should be commended for doing good deeds, or whether they’re only being generous in return for good publicity.

In this case, it will be interesting to see whether Madonna’s good deed will help her win favor with the courts in Malawi which denied her bid to adopt Mercy James last week.

All Madonna jokes aside, this is a very serious situation. Hundreds of people are dead and thousands have been left homeless. Anyone interested in donating to the relief effort for the victims of L’Aquila’s earthquake should really consider contacting the Red Cross, soon.