Rapper Meek Mill, 76ers owner Michael Rubin, and comedian Kevin Hart have once again partnered up to donate to the Philadelphia schools system, albeit it is less than half of what they contributed in the 2022-2023 school year.
On Jan. 10, it was announced that the Philly trio had donated $7 million to 60 “private and parochial schools in need” in Philadelphia to support community students for the 2023-2024 academic year. The funding is designed to support low-income students to attend or continue to attend private schools in the form of scholarships.
Mill and Hart both attended city public schools. Rubin grew up in Lafayette Hill and lives in Bryn Mawr.
History of Donations
The three also helped schools in underserved communities last year, as Atlanta Black Star previously reported.
This time, however, the number of schools was not mentioned, but the donation is still to support South and North Philly institutions and is earmarked to provide laptops and tablets and help strengthen WiFi connectivity. The donation will be administered by Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS), Pennsylvania’s largest scholarship organization, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Last fall, Hart visited Robert Morris Elementary in North Philadelphia and made a $150,000 donation to get more books into Philadelphia School District students’ hands.
In 2018, Mill donated 6,000 backpacks to Philadelphia students.
Mill and Williams
Meek Mill, who has an estimated net worth of $20 million, has long partnered up with Rubin, a former 76ers owner, for charitable events. Rubin is the CEO of Fanatics and the co-chair of a social justice and criminal justice reform foundation called REFORM Alliance.
For example, Rubin and Meek Mill hosted their annual “Season of Giving” events during the 2022 holidays.
Rubin and Meek Mill donated $17 million to the city, a $15 million donation to Philly students, on Jan. 12, 2022, TMZ reported. They previously launched a $2 million scholarship foundation in Dec 2020 for the 2020-21 school year in an effort to combat education-related challenges bought on by COVID-19, Billboard reported.
Teaming up with the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 15, 2022, the duo gave 35 Philly kids and their families an opportunity to have fun by hosting the “Eagle for a Day” experience for kids who have been “impacted negatively by the criminal justice system,” according to the Eagles website.
