Microsoft Cofounder Paul Allen Has Pledged $100 Million To Fight Ebola
"Everybody feels called sometimes to really pursue a certain thing that resonates with them, and this has resonated with me," Allen told the Times. "We're up against an extremely tough opponent here. The exponential nature of the growth of this disease is really a challenge - we've already seen in the U.S. where one case quickly became two."
The gift makes him one of the largest individual donors to contribute to the cause. He had previously pledged $26 million to nonprofits and government agencies fighting the disease, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The $100-million pledge also doubles his Microsoft cofounder's gift - the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced in September that it would donate $50 million toward fighting the Ebola outbreak.
Allen's donation will go to several different organizations, including the World Health Organization, the United States State Department, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which funds lab equipment in Liberia. Allen has also created a website, www.TackleEbola.com, to direct smaller donors towards projects they can help fund.
"I got a taste when I was in Kenya a while ago of what medical care was in rural Africa," Allen said. "I was in a town of about 10,000 people, and a shipping container with a rusty microscope was their medical clinic."
Allen confirmed the news of his donation via Twitter.