'Chance the Rapper' Pledges $1 Million To Chicago Public Schools
By Amanda Wicks
(RADIO.COM) – Chance the Rapper live streamed a press conference at Westcott Elementary School in Chicago, located only three blocks from where he grew up, Monday, March 6th. There, he announced he would be donating $1 million to Chicago Public Schools.
After meeting with Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on Friday, March 3rd, the two had an additional conversation over the weekend. "Our talks were unsuccessful," Chance said. "Governor Rauner still won't commit to giving Chicago's kids a chance."
Chance illustrated how Illinois had specifically increased funding in other cities besides Chicago. "Our kids should not be held hostage because of political positions," he said. "If the governor does not act, CPS will be forced to end school 13 days early, which means over 380,000 kids will not have adult supervised activities in June and could possibly be put in harm's way."
He added, "While I'm frustrated and disappointed in the governor's inaction, that will not stop me from continuing to do all I can to support Chicago's most valuable resources: Its children." Chance delivered the school with a big check and made a further pledge to donate $10,000 to individual schools through his organization Social Works for every $100,000 raised.
"I'm excited to share that this donation was made possible by my fans," he explained. "Through ticket sales from my upcoming tour and an unprecedented coordination from Live Nation, AEG and Ticketmaster–competing programs, if you guys didn't know–we were able to band together to use funds from ticket sales to donate in the CPS."
Chance emphasized that he was doing this to help the children of Chicago, and encouraged others to "Mobilize with me."
He ended with a powerful message. "Governor Rauner, do your job," he said.
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