'Lonely Island' Comics Donate $250K To Berkeley Schools
BERKELEY (KCBS) – Berkeley Unified School District will soon be a quarter of a million dollars richer after a donation from three former students who have made it big in the entertainment industry.
Childhood friends Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone grew up in the Berkeley school system and went on to form the highly popular comedy troupe Lonely Island, creators of several viral videos including "Jack Sparrow."
KCBS' Mark Seelig Reports:
Samberg is also one of the stars of NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
The group was recently working on a Super Bowl advertisement contest for Doritos called "Crash the Super Bowl." The competition invites consumer-made ads and one will be chosen to air during the Super Bowl.
The three reached a deal with Doritos to have them donate $250,000 to the charity of their choice, and Lonely Island chose Berkeley Unified School District.
"This can do huge things," said district spokesman Mark Coplan. "Athletics that have been cut and the arts that we support. It's pretty phenomenal when someone of their character, really superstars, think about the school district. How often do you hear that?"
It's still not clear exactly when the school district will receive the money, but Coplan said that when they do, he hopes Lonely Island is in town to help them celebrate.
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