Barbra Streisand Raises $22 Million for Women's Health Charity

Barbra Streisand has raised $22 million to boost a regenerative-medicine research fund and efforts to fight heart disease among women, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

THR quotes a source at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who says Streisand exceeded her original goal of raising $20 million and has donated $10 million herself.

“Barbra has now brought over $22 million to this cause, including her own generous gift of $10 million in matching funds,” says Dr. Noel Bairey-Merz, director of the program which in June was re-named the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center.

In June Streisand held a fundraiser for the cause at her Malibu home, at which she sang. Couples paid as much as $100,000 to attend. The event was attended by President Bill Clinton, who saluted the entertainer for her efforts on women’s health. Through her personal contacts she also secured significant donations from Ralph Lauren, Barry Diller, Sumner Redstone, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and others.

The entertainer-philanthropist has been a vocal supporter of the former Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute since 2007, when she learned that heart disease is the number one killer of women. The Streisand Foundation has previously made grants to national organizations that support work on women’s health, as well as the environment, voter education, protecting civil liberties, civil rights, and nuclear disarmament.