Chance the Rapper has been in the news quite a bit recently, especially following his impressive Grammy win in February. It doesn’t look like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon, either.
Last Friday, about a month after donating $1 million to the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system, Chance announced a new nonprofit fund for arts and literature.
The new fund, appropriately named “New Chance: Arts and Literature,” will work to provide CPS students with new supplies and materials beginning next year. The fund has already raised $1.2 million in donations within the last month – imagine how much it’ll have by the time September rolls around.
Even better, President and COO of the Chicago Bulls, Michael Reinsdorf matched Chance’s $1 million donation. If more donations like this are made, CPS could be in a great place.
Michael Echeverri, a Bradley student that attended Chicago Public Schools, thinks Chance’s efforts are good for the school system.
“I went to selective enrollment schools that got a lot of resources and funding from the city,” senior english major Echeverri said. “I think a major setback for these schools is an uneven distribution of proper educational materials. This new fund will help pave the way to evening out the playing field for those that aren’t growing up in the best neighborhoods, and might help them further in their educational career.”
Having grown up in the CPS system, I know there are definitely some schools in the Chicago area that don’t have access to the best educational materials. I’m really happy to see Chance use his fame and fortune to give back to the community he grew up in that so many other kids are growing up in now.
The media tends to give Chicago public schools a bad rap (I know, I’m hilarious), but people like Chance are starting to turn that around.
