In 2023, black celebrities demonstrated incredible generosity, making a significant impact on the lives of the less privileged. Throughout the year, these inspiring individuals used their fame and resources to give back in meaningful ways.
From supporting healthcare initiatives to promoting education and social welfare programs, these celebrities embraced a diverse range of charitable causes. Beyond their financial contributions, these celebrities also invested their time and personal involvement in various charitable endeavors.
Their philanthropic endeavors made a global impact, extending help and support to communities far and wide.
GloRilla
Rapper GloRilla, a Memphis native and Grammy nominee, shocked students at Westside Middle School in Frayser. The celebrity singer gave a $20,000 donation to the school’s fine arts program.
She told the students: “To chase your dreams, whatever you want to do is possible. I’m living proof because I came from this exact neighborhood, this exact school. And whatever you want to do, you can do it. Manifest and actually work to achieve it.”
Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant and the Durant Family Foundation donated $500,000 to Bowie State University (BSU), which financed the construction of a new basketball facility.
The money was used to revamp the bleachers, add seats, and remodel the court at Bowie State’s Leonidas S. James Physical Education Complex. It was also used to boost the broadcasting capabilities of the press box.
Because BSU does not receive state money for athletics, President Aminta Breaux said that the gift from the Durant Family Foundation had a major impact.
Candace Parker
WNBA star Candace Parker joined with Gatorade and DICK’s Sporting Goods to donate $100,000 to The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation Sports Matter Program, which will cover registration fees for young athletes in underserved regions.
Parker, the mother of a volleyball player and a longstanding advocate for increasing fairness in young sports, told Clutch Points that she understands the problems families encounter while paying for sports registration.
She stated that athletes must be allowed to participate in sports without financial constraints. “It will help them not just make professionals. That’s not what the goal is necessarily, but to create good people,” she shared.
Angel Reese
LSU basketball star Angel Reese recently gave a significant donation of $12,000 to St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, her former high school, to help with a player’s tuition and fees.
This act demonstrates Reese’s commitment to support her alma mater and assist other young players in pursuing their academic and basketball goals.
Reese also recently announced the launch of the Angel C. Reese Foundation, which aims to empower girls and women via sports, education, financial literacy, and other activities.
The organization will offer girls’ basketball camps, financial literacy initiatives, scholarships, holiday celebrations, and continuous community programming.
Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks displayed his compassion by donating to a GoFundMe campaign launched by Cameron Mofid to raise funds for a school in a Nigerian slum and an orphanage in Ghana that he saw during a backpacking trip to West Africa.
Mofid revealed that he started the GoFundMe campaign to offer some financial help to the children, adding that the contributions would ensure the students had adequate learning materials and access to clean drinking water.
Irving’s donation, according to Mofid, would support the purchase of a water tank in Nigeria so that all 351 students will have access to clean drinking water.
Michael Jordan
NBA icon Michael Jordan gave $10 million to Make-A-Wish America some days before his birthday. This is the highest donation from a single person in the group’s 43-year existence, according to the organization.
Since granting the first wish in 1989, the NBA star has been helping Make-A-Wish, an organization that grants children with life-altering illnesses their request for something special. Jordan “has granted hundreds of wishes to children all over the world, becoming one of the all-time most requested celebrity wish granters,” according to the group.
Jordan’s donation, according to the wish-granting foundation, would build an endowment to assist in supporting future wishes for children with serious diseases.
Diddy
Howard University received a substantial donation from the renowned artist Sean “Diddy” Combs. He also took center stage during the school’s Yardfest event and performed some of his most popular songs.
After the show, he gave Dr. Ben Vinson III, President of Howard University, a $1 million grant, fulfilling his promise to support HBCUs in 2022.
Combs’ recent donation is the latest in an extended history of contributions to historically black colleges and universities. In August, he gave $1 million to Jackson State University’s football program. Combs, 53, attended Howard in the late 1980s but did not graduate, though he was awarded an honorary degree in 2014.
Terian Williams
Terian Williams II, a defensive back for Stanford, chose to use his most recent name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsement deal to make his favorite teacher, Jerry Hayes, an educator in Henry County Schools, smile. He gave him $10,000 as part of the Extra Yard for Teachers campaign.
Hayes has been teaching in Williams’ district for 17 years, and the gesture was meant to motivate and recognize his contributions. The district will benefit from the $10,000 donation made in his honor.
French Montana
After shooting his Wish You Well music video in the area, Moroccan-American rapper French Montana gave 500 canoes to the Makoko stilt community in Nigeria. Rae Sremmurd, the rapper he featured on the song, and management SALXCO, as well as media company Gamma, also made donations.
The rapper and his team devised the plan to gift the boats to the 200,000-person village after learning that the area is prone to flooding and lacks basic sanitation systems.
Beyoncé
Beyoncé gave a $100,000 scholarship to the Detroit School of Digital Technology. The BeyGood Foundation made the grant, which was given to ten students as part of her Renaissance Scholars program.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the scholarship grant isn’t the singer’s first charity effort in Michigan. She gave $82,000 to Flint water relief efforts in 2016. It featured funds raised by her Formation World Tour fans. As part of her $1 million pledge to support businesses around the world, Beyonce also donated $10,000 to Nigerian tapas restaurant Chuku’s in Tottenham.
Rick Ross
Rick Ross presented a large check to a clinic in Fayette County, which helped it stay operational. Upon hearing via his attorney Steve Shadow that the clinic could have to close owing to financial difficulties, the rapper gave more than $30,000 to the Fayette C.A.R.E. Clinic.
DJ Khaled
DJ Khaled gifted one of his fans a pair of the brand-new J. Balvin SP Air Jordan 3s as a way of saying “thank you.” The famous DJ had heard about the fan camped outside his Snipes sneaker store in Miami since 4 a.m., and DJ Khaled paid for his $250 “Medelln Sunset” sneaker purchase as a show of his appreciation.
“It’s okay to take a gift. I know you got money. I wanna do it. He been out here since four in the morning; that’s what we do!” he said in a video.
