Bethenny Frankel To Donate Cash Cards To Black-Owned Businesses Affected By Protests

Former Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel announced via Twitter on Wednesday that her organization, BStrong, along with her partner, the Global Empowerment Mission, will be donating cash cards to black-owned business in the wake of the George Floyd protests. Fans quickly reacted to the Twitter post.

“BStrong will donate cash cards to black-owned businesses who have suffered,” the tweet began.

The Skinnygirl mogul continued that she was starting small. Her initial goal was to fund cash cards for 100 businesses affected by the current protests but urged her fans to “dream big.” Bethenny cited her success distributing coronavirus kits as evidence that a more important goal could be met.

“My goal was 20k coronakits & we did $18m,” Bethenny wrote.

Bethenny was referring to her organization’s response to the recent pandemic. New York City was hit exceptionally hard, and the BStrong Organization was responsible for securing over 100,000 N95 masks for medical personnel in hard-hit communities, The Daily News reported. In total, the organization donated over $15 million worth of aid to all 50 states.

Fans responded to the announcement with both positive and negative comments. Many questioned why non-black owned businesses were excluded since so many were affected.

“What about Chinese, Mexican, Greek, White?” one follower asked.

“Would like to see this opened to all small business destroyed by rioters,” another follower wrote.

Bethenny did not respond to her followers’ questions.

Many followers tweeted photos of their donation screens. Several gave small amounts or whatever they “could afford” based on their current circumstances.

The BStrong Foundation launched in 2017 and has served missions in several countries. The organization’s goal is to provide “real time emergency assistance to individuals and their families in crisis.” The organization previously assisted with disaster relief after Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, bush fires in Australia, and wildfires in the Amazon rainforest as well as California. Together with the Global Empowerment Mission, millions of dollars have been distributed worldwide.

Bethenny left The Real Housewives of New York City right before filming for the current season began. The Inquisitr recently reported that Bethenny’s co-stars don’t believe she will be returning to the show any time soon. Many were happy to see the “very dark” vibe disappear from the show with her exit.

The reality star is now focused on her charity as well as her new show, Big Shot with Bethenny, which is set to air on HBO Max later this year.