Celebrity News July 09, 2010
Rihanna Helps Ailing 'Lion King' Star
When superstar Rihanna learned that 11-year-old Broadway performer Shannon Tavares was diagnosed with acute leukemia, RiRi knew she had to get involved to help one of her biggest fans.
After hearing the young "Lion King" actress sing, Rihanna said, "Shannon deserves to live and share her beautiful voice with the world," and urged all her fans to register with the DKMS bone marrow donor center at getswabbed.org to help save the life of Shannon and other leukemia patients.
"It's the most beautiful thing someone could do, to give the gift of life," Rihanna told People magazine.
Only 8% of the seven million registered donors are African-American, which means that only 17% of African-Americans in need of a transplant will receive one.
