Jay-Z, Meek Mill donate 100,000 masks to prisons to prevent COVID-19

Rappers Jay-Z and Meek Mill have pledged their support to protect the inmates and prison staff in the US from coronavirus by donating 100,000 surgical masks.

The duo have made the contribution via their Reform Alliance foundation, aimed at reforming the criminal justice system by changing laws and policies in the country.

According to Entertainment Weekly, masks will be distributed to the Tennessee Department of Corrections with an allotment for the state, the Mississippi State Penitentiary, with the bulk going to New York's Riker's Island Correctional and their medical facility as one of the country's largest prisons.

"WE JUST DONATED 100k MASKS TO PEOPLE BEHIND BARS that includes 50k to #Rikers, 40k to @TNTDOC1, and 5k to #ParchmanPrison.

"THANK YOU to our friend @ShakaSenghor for leading this charge. We need to protect vulnerable people behind bars & GET THEM OUT!" the tweet on Reform Alliance official page read.

After the announcement of 100,000 mask donations, the organisation was also able to find 36,000 more masks to send to South Carolina.

"WE FOUND 36k MASKS FOR PEOPLE BEHIND BARS IN SOUTH CAROLINA @BryanStirling, director of @scdcnews, requested our help after he saw what we could do in #Rikers, #ParchmanPrison, and @TNTDOC1. We located the masks last night and they're on their way to the state now!" the post read.