Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic album won a Grammy for best album of the year— but now, he’s sharing the magic with 24,000 families in his home state of Hawaii.
According to CNN, Mars partnered up with the Salvation Army for their 48th annual Thanksgiving Dinner meal program to donate 24,000 Thanksgiving dinners to families in need.
Hawaii currently ranks 45th out of the 50 states in terms of economic outlook, with Hawaii News Now recently reporting that roughly 11% of residents live below the poverty line. “Big Mahalo to Bruno Mars who is providing 24K Thanksgiving Holiday meals to Hawaii residents in need through our holiday feeding programs!” the Salvation Army wrote on their Facebook page.
“The gift will allow us to expand our feeding programs to provide an additional 24,000 meals. It is because of such giving that struggling families will have a warm and cheerful holiday together this year.”
Mars isn’t a stranger to generosity, however. He’s performed a long list of charitable acts.
Teaming up with the Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation in 2011, Mars visited the Philippines, singing, bonding and spending time with the children of his mother’s native country. Later, Tina Monzon Palma called the experience life-changing: “I would want to tell him [Mars] that you turned the lives of the kids around when you visited us in 2011.”
A few years later, he donated $100,000 to the same foundation to help children affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda. According to Rappler, the contribution was used to care for the children and assist in helping to raise their self-esteem and morale after losing homes and members of their families.
Last November, the superstar teamed up with his promoter Live Nation to donate $1 million to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to help children and families exposed to lead in the town’s water supply. That same year, Samaritan Mag announced Mars had committed to giving one scholarship per year, for the next five years, to a deserving teen, so they could attend Grammy Music Camp, a music industry camp for high school students. In a statement, Mars said:
“It’s a privilege for me to be able to help students reach their musical dreams. I’m grateful to Grammy Camp for making this possible.”
These notable acts are in addition to Mars’ contributions to charities, including The Global Poverty Project, The Rainforest Foundation, Save The Children, and Red Cross. After Mars’ Thanksgiving donation was announced, Jeff Martin, leader of the Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands division, said in an official statement: “We are humbled and honored by this generous donation from Hawaii’s own Bruno Mars.”
“Bruno is a shining example of how people in Hawaii step forward and take care of one another, and we are grateful to him for his aloha and kokua.”
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