Roger Federer pledges $500,000 to help children in war-torn Ukraine

Roger Federer has announced that he will be donating $500,000 through his foundation to support the continued education of Ukrainian children impacted by the war against Russia. The Swiss said he was horrified by the events that had unfolded in the country and once again called for peace.

"My family and I are horrified seeing pictures from Ukraine and heartbroken for the innocent people who have been so terribly affected," he said in a statement on Twitter. "We stand for peace."

"We will provide assistance to children from Ukraine who need care, about 6 million Ukrainian children are currently out of school and it's a very critical time to provide access to education and would like to support them to deal with this extremely traumatic experience," Federer added.

Federer's foundation will be making the donation to War Child Holland, a charity that works exclusively to improve the wellbeing of children impacted by violence and armed conflict.

"Through the Roger Federer Foundation, we will be supporting War Child Holland with a donation of $500,000 to establish access to continued schooling for Ukrainian children," the Swiss added.

Former Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky, who has signed up for his country's military reserves, recently revealed that Federer's foundation was working towards helping kids in the region.

Novak Djokovic has also offered Stakhovsky his support, including financial aid.

Roger Federer Foundation raised over 10 million Swiss francs in 2021

Roger Federer visits Ethiopia with his foundations

Earlier this week, the the Roger Federer Foundation released its annual financial report. The report detailed the various programs the foundation sponsors, chief of which was COVID-19 relief last year, which raised a total of 10 million Swiss francs.

Federer founded the organization back in 2003 with the aim of catering to the needs of children in his home country Switzerland, as well as parts of Southern Africa.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion said that he was not taking the generosity of his donors and fans for granted during the current crisis.

"For the first time, the foundation received more than 10 million Swiss francs in donations for our programmes last year. Especially in these times of crisis, this solidarity cannot be taken for granted and I would like to thank all our donors from the bottom of my heart," he added.

Roger Federer has been away from competitive tennis since Wimbledon 2021, but is expected to return to action sometime this year.

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