SEATTLE, Washington — Taylor Swift is one of the world’s most famous pop artists. She has won 29 AMAs and 10 Grammys over the span of her 15-year career. Swift is one of the richest celebrities in the world with a net worth of around $360 million. In December of 2019, Taylor Swift also accepted Billboard’s Woman of the Decade Award. Along with her fame and success through music, the artist also takes part in several activities to help people around the world. Below are just some examples of Taylor Swift’s philanthropy.
Benefit Concerts and Donations from Music
Taylor Swift performed at the Sydney Sound Relief Concert, which raised $3.3 million to rebuild homes and relieve the people after the 2009 Australia bushfires. Taylor Swift’s philanthropy does not end there. She also raised $750,000 through her Speak Now Help Now concert for the 2011 tornado victims in the Southern U.S. In 2015, after the release of her music video, “Wildest Dreams,” which featured lions, giraffes, and other animals from the African savannah, Swift donated all proceeds from her video to the African Parks Foundation of America, which works to conserve African national parklands.
Helping Children
Taylor Swift is an active participant in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children in nearly 50 countries worldwide. She has and continues to visit “sick children at the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre, the Ronald McDonald House and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre” as a part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2016, she donated another $100,000 to the V Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Research. The artist had previously made a $100,000 donation to the V Foundation from sales after the release of her hit single, “Ronan,” which tells a true story of a three-year-old child who died from cancer in 2011.
Taylor Swift also advocates for increased education around the world. In 2012, she donated $4 million to the Nashville Country Hall of Fame to open up the Taylor Swift Education Center where kids can explore music through different activities and interactive classrooms. They also learn what it is like to make their own songs. The star announced that “There will be demonstrations and instruments that kids can try without having to spend money and buy one for themselves.” She also donated $50,000 to New York City Public Schools.
UNICEF Tap Project Initiative
In 2011, Taylor Swift joined UNICEF’s Tap Project Initiative, where celebrities bottle up tap water from their homes into a “Celebrity Tap Pack.” UNICEF raises money by creating a lottery for people to win a variety of bottled water from celebrities. It then donates those funds to help the 900 million people around the world that have been denied access to clean, safe drinking water. The program has raised more than $2.5 million since 2007.
Taylor Swift has been recognized for her work a few times, including by the Do Something Awards and The Giving Back Fund. Additionally, Michelle Obama honored her with the “Big Help Award” for her dedication to helping those in need. She was also the youngest person ever to receive the Ripple of Hope Award in 2012 from the Robert F. Kennedy Center. Taylor Swift’s philanthropy benefits millions of people around the world. She continues to give to charity each year. She is one of the many musical artists who use their fame to help others.
– Shveta Shah
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