Seahawks owner Paul Allen gives $100 million for Ebola fight

Seahawks owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen will donate $100 million to the fight against Ebola. The virus has killed almost 5,000 people worldwide.

Seattle Seahawks owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen will donate $100 million to the fight against Ebola, Allen announced on his website.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ebola has killed nearly 5,000 people worldwide, with a fatality rate of around 50 percent for those infected with the virus. 

Allen, who also owns the Portland Trail Blazers and is part-owner of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders, has given over $20 million to other organizations, such as the CDC, the American Red Cross and Global Giving. 

“Everybody feels called sometimes to really pursue a certain thing that resonates with them, and this has resonated with me,”  Allen told TheNew York 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.”

Allen created a website, www.TackleEbola.com, to help fund hand-washing stations and beds to treat patients infected with the virus. The initiative also aims to provide those in need with food and nutrition. 

Allen says he saw the crisis in Africa firsthand when he visited Kenya, including how one town barely had a medical clinic to treat patients. 

“To effectively contain this outbreak and prevent it from becoming a global epidemic, we must pool our efforts to raise the funds, coordinate the resources and develop the creative solutions needed to combat this problem,” Allen said on his website. “I am committed to doing my part in tackling this crisis.”

- Scooby Axson