Rachael Ray Donates $4 Million To Feed Humans, Pets Amid Pandemic

Rachael Ray's cooking brand has made her worth an obscene amount of money. From 30 Minute Meals to Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels to her pile of cookbooks packed with easy, quick recipes, she's amassed quite an empire for which people do indeed go bonkers. Over two decades of iconically irritating catchphrases—"Yum-O!" and "De-lish!" and calling sandwiches "sammies"—have earned her enough cash to give back. This week, she joined a growing list of celebrities who have been organizing donations for coronavirus relief, hers clocking in at $4 million.

As anyone with that much money should, Ray also has two charities: the first is Yum-O!, which educates and feeds kids, helping them develop healthy relationships with food. Then there's The Rachael Ray Foundation, fully funded by her dog food brand, Rachael Ray Nutrish (yikes), which apparently helps animals in need and also whatever other causes she's interested in. The two nonprofits have teamed up to donate $4 million across the country to aid COVID-19 relief efforts. Half of that donation will go to food and nutrition charities including Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, and City Harvest. The other half will go to animal welfare organizations. While she and her husband have no "human children," as the dog-lover qualified on BuzzFeed's Twitter morning show AM to DM, they still "want to pay it forward to the next generation."

Ray is currently quarantined with her husband at their home in the Adirondacks, which frankly sounds delightful. Way to go, Rachael!