Justin Bieber definitely keeps his promises.
Back in November on the Ellen Degeneres show they featured a school that was struggling. Las Vegas’ Whitney Elementary School’s principal Sherrie Gahn was struggling to keep her 600 plus students going. This principal had become an army with her faculty to fight the poverty at her school.
Ellen surprised the school and its principal with a $100,000 donation from Target. To Ellen’s surprise and to everyone else Justin said he would match the donation. On December 16, he made good on that promise, personally delivering a check for $100,000 and performing a mini-concert for the students at the school. Can you imagine being one of the kids there? What a great early Holiday present.
The donation, comes from Bieber’s personal funds not his charity organization Believe. The money will go towards providing needy students and their families food, clothes and money for bills.
Whitney Elementary is unbelievable they provide assistance to over 600 students, many of them homeless, providing a food pantry, clothes, free haircuts, literacy training, and of course love and support.
“For the kids, it shows that someone loves them and cares about them to follow up,” Principal Sherrie Gahn told the Las Vegas Sun “When you live in an existence where everything seems so hopeless, it’s an amazing gift they will never forget. It’s beyond their wildest dreams.”
Soon after the Ellen segment aired, Gahn says she received hundreds of emails and letter. One Chicago-area high school even threw a benefit dance and raised $1,000 for Whitney. “My biggest motivator for the kids and the thought and the hope that they don’t have to live in this existence when they grow up,” said Gahn. “That they break the cycle.”
The Bieber donation is set to start an after-school program and is one of many charitable endeavors the 17-year-old has taken on this year. All of Bieber’s business endeavors have a philanthropic component. As his manager, Scooter Braun explains: “My brother Adam [Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise] and I made a pact that every deal we do has to have a charitable component otherwise we don’t do it. Justin heard that and agreed. So literally, every dollar we make, a portion of that goes to charity.”
All celebs should take notice. These problems are right in our backyard. Kids in our school system and all over America are struggling. During this season and beyond take time to find out what you can do in your area. You may not have $100,000 to give but there are other things you can do.
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