Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce surprises charities with $26 million ahead of Madison Square Garden wedding
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are marking one of the potentially biggest weeks of their relationship with a major philanthropic effort.
Ahead of their expected wedding at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Friday, the couple donated a combined $26 million to 20 local and national charities, according to Swift’s publicist.
The gifts were spread across organizations tied to places that have shaped their lives, from New York to Kansas City and Rhode Island.
Nine of the nonprofits are based in New York, where the couple is expected to marry, including food relief organizations Food Bank For NYC and City Harvest, as well as Musical Mentors, which connects students with music teachers.
Other recipients include the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, reflecting Swift’s ties to Watch Hill, and Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, where Kelce has spent his NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs.
National organizations such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Feeding America, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also received donations. The amount awarded to each group was not disclosed.
The donations continue a pattern of philanthropy from both stars. Swift has previously made multimillion-dollar gifts to food banks during her Eras Tour and has supported causes ranging from disaster relief to education. Kelce has long backed youth-focused initiatives through his foundation and has been recognized by the Chiefs for his charitable work.
The pair, who began dating in 2023 and announced their engagement in 2025, have largely kept their wedding plans private.
Charities react to the donations with gratitude
For many nonprofits, the donations arrived as a surprise.
City Harvest, New York City’s largest food rescue organization, thanked Swift and Kelce on Instagram and wrote, “It’s a love story that feeds good.”
The organization previously said that due to the Trump administration’s cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, it aims to deliver 100 million pounds of food to New Yorkers.
In Kansas City, Harvesters — The Community Food Network said in an Instagram post that the couple donated $1 million.
“The two of them have incredibly big hearts and have shown up to support not only us but many charities over the years,” the organization wrote of Swift and Kelce. “We feel so lucky that they make the conscious effort to invest in hunger relief and the beautiful community we call Kansas City!”
The Rhode Island Community Food Bank also posted on Instagram that Swift and Kelce surprised the organization with an “extraordinary” $1 million donation.
“We were THRILLED to learn of this unexpected gift, which comes at a time when the need for food assistance in our state is at an all-time high,” the Food Bank wrote.
“Every dollar of this generous donation will be put to work to source food for distribution across our statewide network of 137 member agencies,” the Food Bank added.