NBA star Kyrie Irving has donated $45,000 (£37,394) to help build orphanages in Africa in the latest impressive philanthropic move by the Dallas Mavericks. A photo was shared of the orphanage holding a sign that read: “Hi Kyrie Irving, thank you so much for donating to us. God bless you.”
A statement from Cameron Mofid, who organized a GoFundMe that Irving donated to, said: “His donation will build an entire orphanage in Ghana. He will buy a water tank for children in Nigeria. We will be able to buy shoes and books for all the children.”
Moufid’s original goal was $5,000, which he surpassed in the first week, reaching $10,000 thanks to donations from more than 200 people. But he was shocked when he woke up to see Irving’s huge donation and the impact it would have.
Irving has now donated close to $1m in the past few months, including a whopping $500,000 (£427,574) donation to anti-hate causes.
At the time, Irving also gave $50,000 to each family of a teenage boy killed by police, as well as giving $130,000 to the family of a woman who died in Mexico under suspicious circumstances.
He also gave $50,000 to the family of Devin Chandler of the University of Virginia, who was killed in the shooting when a gunman opened fire inside a bus.
It came after Irving was slammed, fined, and suspended for his actions in November by his former team, the Bucklin Nets, for sharing a link to an anti-Semitic film on social media. The film featured denial of the Holocaust as well as a number of offensive criticisms of the Jewish religion.
After initially not apologizing, the 30-year-old did after talking to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, as well as Nets owner Joe Tsai, who suspended him for at least five games and gave him a list of steps he would need to take before returning to the team.
