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"`Harry Potter' Author Donates 500,000 Pounds to Single Parents" (Bloomberg, October 4, 2000)
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| London -- J.K. Rowling, author of the ``Harry Potter'' series of children's books, has donated 500,000 pounds ($730,000) to Britain's National Council for One Parent Families, the organization said. Rowling has also become the 82-year-old group's first ambassador, it said in a statement faxed to journalists. Rowling, a 34-year-old single mother, will spearhead the council's campaigns. ``Six out of ten families headed by a single parent are living in poverty,'' Rowling said in the statement. ``None of the single parents I know wants to live on handouts; just like parents living in couples we want the chance to provide properly for our children.'' She announced the donation in a speech delivered at the Council's London headquarters today. Rowling's latest book, ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' sold 370,000 copies on its first day of U.K. publication this year. She earned 20.5 million pounds last year, according to a list of wealthy women printed in the Mail in Sunday in August. The organization aims to raise 1 million pounds for one- parent families. There are 1.7 million single parents in the U.K., caring for almost 3 million children, the Council said. Rowling plans to announce two more donations in next few months, Nicky Stonehill, a spokeswoman for the author said, without giving details. Rowling wasn't available to comment. |
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