Chance The Rapper Announces A $1 Million Donation To Public Schools On Behalf Of The Chicago Bulls

Chicago musician, and real-life super hero Chance The Rapper hosted another press conference today at Robeson High School on the city’s South Side where announced a $1,000,000 donation to Chicago Public Schools on behalf of the Chicago Bulls NBA team. He also announced the creation of a new after school arts program called, the New Chance Arts And Literature Fund. “We’re just getting started,” Chance promised.

“As an artist and an after school teacher, I know the arts are essential,” Chance said. “To ensure that more students have more access, I am excited to announce the creation of the New Chance Arts and Literacy Fund. The fund will bring arts program and materials to schools that have experienced a decrease in five-year graduation rates, experienced budget cuts and lack of text books, and are without music or arts programs.”

So far, with the help of contributors like Justin Bieber and Kanye West’s manager, Scooter Braun, as well as Hannibal Buress, and Common and this latest contribution from The Bulls, Chance has managed to raise $2.2 million to date for CPS in just three weeks. We can only imagine that with another high-profile press conference like the one he staged today that that amount will increase as well.

Earlier this month, Chance made headlines when he announced at a press conference at Westcott Elementary that he was going to donate $1 million to the Chicago Public Education System. Since then, he’s been working with Social Works to donate individual $10,000 checks to a number of local public schools.

Chance’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Chicago students, Alex Rojas, Alondra Cerros, and Annelisse Betancourt, three CPS 10th graders from Lake View High School recently penned an open letter to the musician, which was published by Billboard. “All of the things that you do for our city never go unnoticed,” they wrote. “All of the free concerts you host and all the time you spend here in the city really show you care. We notice it. We look up to you because the fame usually takes humility away from artists, but it hasn’t changed you.”