On Tuesday, Alicia Keys paid a visit to her high school, the Professional Performing Arts School, in New York City to drop off instruments for its students. Keys says the school is underfunded and “I hope to make this better for them.”
The singer has also launched an online contest where people can share how they would use $1,000 to improve the world and make it a better place. The contest, which is part of Western Union’s World of Betters campaign, will end December 15. World of Betters is also being promoted by rapper K’Naan, who will host an event in Johannesburg, and Indian singer Sunidhi Chauhan, who will host an event in Mumbai, India.
“As a proud graduate of the Professional Performing Arts School, I thought about the students there who are in desperate need of new musical equipment to help them learn their craft,” said Alicia Keys. “Because right now, my alma mater is underfunded and oversubscribed—and I hope to make this better for them, so they can follow their dreams. As the Co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, I constantly see that there are so many ways the world can be made a better place. That’s why I’m so excited to work on the World of Betters initiative and I know for a fact, that there are so many people out there with amazing ideas that can show how even a small change can make a big impact.”
The public will vote and determine the top 500 entries for World of Betters contest. Afterwards, a panel of judges will select 100 winners who will receive $1,000 to create their idea.
