Cameron Mofid never imagined he was going to receive a sizeable donation – let alone from Kyrie Irving – when he set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for a school in a slum in Nigeria and an orphanage in Ghana that he had visited during a backpacking trip to West Africa. But the Dallas Maverick star’s generous act adds up to several other donations he has quietly made on the fundraising platform.
Mofid, a 22-year-old avid traveler with a goal of becoming one of the youngest people to visit every country in the world, said he initially set up the GoFundMe with a $,5000 goal. He said they managed to raise over $10,000 in the first week of the campaign. But on Sunday, the 22-year-old California native said he woke up to a $45,000 donation from Irving.
“When I woke up to GoFundMe and saw there was a donation for $45,000 I thought it was a mistake or some sort of scam mail at first. It took me a moment to realize that it was legitimate and that it came from Kyrie Irving,” Mofid, who has so far visited 119 out of 195 countries, told Face2Face Africa.
“I entered a state of complete shock. My guess is that he saw the fundraiser because it was trending on GoFundMe. It’s evidence that every share and every donation, even those of $5, made an impact.”
Mofid graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s and just graduated there in December with an MBA as well. During his trip to West Africa, the valedictorian said he visited the “Part of Solution Nursery and Primary School” in a slum in Nigeria and “The United People Home” in one of Ghana’s roughest neighborhoods. He said he set up the GoFundMe to try and provide some financial support to the children, adding that the funds would ensure the students can have adequate learning materials and access to clean drinking water.
Mofid also explained Irving’s donation will fund the purchasing of the water tank in Nigeria so all 351 students will have access to clean drinking water and the construction of the entire orphanage in Ghana.
“We initially raised enough to buy the land for the new orphanage in Ghana,” he told Face2Face Africa. “Kyrie’s donation should be enough to fund the entire building of the orphanage as well as a sports center for the kids. We already named a classroom in the school in Nigeria after him and the future sports complex at the orphanage in Ghana will be named after him as well.”
The NBA champion’s donation was confirmed by a Dallas Mavericks representative that Mofid said he reached out to. “I was told that Kyrie wants the donation to speak for itself,” Mofid said. “That just goes to show that his donation came from a genuine place of kindness. His act of kindness will better the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people.”
Mofid’s fundraiser has so far raised more than $65,000, surpassing the initial $5,000 goal. And though Irving did not leave any comment on Mofid’s fundraiser, his act of generosity adds up to other sizeable donations he has made on GoFundMe.
In December, Irving donated $22,000 to help a young Howard University student continue her education at the historically Black school, Face2Face Africa reported at the time. He also recently donated $22,000 to an aspiring herbalist who set up a GoFundMe to raise money for her Massachusetts-based medicinal herb farm start-up.
Besides that, the basketball star also donated $65,000 to the family of Shanquella Robinson – the Black woman who died while vacationing with her friends in Mexico. Irving further made another $50,000 GoFundMe donation to the family of Devin Chandler. The University of Virginia football player was among three student-athletes who were fatally shot by Christopher Darnell Jones Jr.
