Madonna Gifts Italian Town $500k for Earthquake Relief

Pop queen traces her roots to quake ravaged Italian region

The Material Girl does have some substance after-all.

Madonna, the long lost granddaughter of Italy's earthquake ravaged Abruzzo region, has made a "substantial donation" to a small town where her grandparents once lived after the Mayor made an appeal for help.

"I am happy to lend a helping hand to the town that my ancestors are from," Madonna, fresh from her rejected bid to adopt a second Malawian child, told People.com. "My heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones or their homes."

Madonna's paternal grandparents lived in Pacentro until 1919, said her publicist Liz Rosenberg. The hamlet is located in Abruzzo where a 6.3 magnitude earth quake struck on Monday, killing more than 200 people. The town's mayor asked the megastar for help and Madonna responded immediately, People reported.

Nobody in Madonna's camp wanted to brag about the amount of the singer's donation, but a source told People the gift was for $500,000.

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