Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind, & Fire is using his Music Is Unity Foundation to launch a fundraiser for National Adoption Month.
Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind, & Fire is using his Music Is Unity Foundation to launch a fundraiser for foster youth in honor of National Adoption Month.
It’s a labor of love for Bailey, who launched the foundation with his daughter as a way to help often overlooked youth who age out of foster care.
“Not all the stories are horrific, but too many of them to ignore. And so we support organizations that are helping foster youth when they age out,” Bailey told BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“They need everything from basic necessities to just anything that anyone would need at, at that age, 18 years old. So, a portion of our proceeds are our ticket sales, go to Music Is Unity.”
The foundation provides grants to non-profit, community-based organizations and agencies that service foster youth. This time around, MIU partnered with the Drum Workshop, Inc., The Purple Project, and The Felix Organization to provide music services along with free “Ted-Talk style” workshops about future planning, careers, safety and health, self-care, and relationships.
Well, of course, we want people to donate so that we have funds to help organizations that are helping foster youth as they age out,” he said.
“But we’re also hoping that people become more aware of foster youth and their plights in their own community and help those organizations that are helping kids who find themselves in situations by no fault of their own.”
Bailey has been able to build close bonds with some of the youth who’ve benefited from MIU’s services. There’s even one alumni who has gone on to open up for Earth, Wind, & Fire on tour.
“Well, it’s been it’s been fun to get to make relationships with former foster youth such as Gian,” he shared. “He was a foster former foster youth. And he’s now a father, a husband, a producer, a writer and a performer. And we met him on one on doing this. And so the last couple of tours, he’s open for us in several markets.”
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Source: Black Enterprise
