Prince Generously Donates $1.5 Million


Before the last show of his "Welcome 2 America" tour last Monday, Prince donated $1 Million to the Harlem Children's Zone and $250,000 each to The Uptown Dance Academy and The American Ballet Theatre. Ballerina Misty Copeland, who recently featured in Prince's tour during the "Beautiful Ones" was one of the recipients present at the press conference. With this donation, Prince's goal is to pave the way for the next generation to embrace the arts and achieve greatness. He also donated his solid gold Fender Custom Stratocaster guitar which he played with during the "Welcome 2 America" tour. The proceeds of the auction went to the Harlem Children's Zone

A press conference was given for the donations, during which 30 students from the Harlem Children's Zone were invited to meet Prince. The students also met with the NPG band, and interacted backstage with make-up, wardrobe and technical professionals for the show. Prince also gave out some delicious Dylan's Candy bar to the kids. 

Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone President released the following statement about the donation: "I want to thank Prince. I am touched and blown away by his generosity. This is unprecedented in my lifetime to see an artist come forward and invest in today's children." Canada said he got a call from Prince who said, “I heard about what you’re doing and I want to help invest in America’s children.” The $1,000,000 gift will benefit the thousands of children that HCZ serves.    

It has been said that Prince will move his tour to new cities across the U.S. where he will make similar donations to other outstanding organizations.


Picture taken from "Welcome 2 America" tour, Monday, February 7th, 2011: