Lil Durk has announced the development of the Durk Banks Endowment Fund in collaboration with Amazon Music. In addition, the rapper is giving two Chicago students $50,000 scholarships to attend Howard University.
The first two recipients of this scholarship will be announced today at the Lil Durk concert at Springfest 2023 at Howard University.
The two students were selected from 20 participating in Neighborhood Heroes’ HBCU College & Career Readiness Group Program.
Lil Durk donates $250,000 to the GRACE Howard grant
In addition to the two individual $50,000 scholarships, Lil Durk will also donate $250,000 to the GRACE Howard grant, a program created to help students in need of tuition assistance, according to the University.
The grant was established in 2014 by President Frederick. In addition, the funding was intended to target students with the greatest financial need who wanted to stay in school and graduate with their class.
Since the GRACE Grant began, recipients have seen a 15% increase in retention and a four-year graduation rate of 78% – an increase of 32% compared to those who did not receive funds from this program.
I received a GRACE Grant my last two years at Howard and it was a blessing! https://t.co/9P0XSU03Sw
– ki. (@keptlikeki) October 13, 2021
Lil Durk continues to give back through his Neighborhood Hero Foundation
Lil Durk is no stranger to giving back and holding it down for his community! In 2022, he announced the launch of his Career Willing program through his Neighborhood Heroes Foundation. The goal was to change the lives of 20 students.
Through this program, students were able to go on an HBCU college tour. In addition, they were able to visit several venues in Atlanta and Alabama. In addition, a few were invited to New York City to meet with executives from Sony, Alamo Records, and the New York Knicks where they were able to shadow experienced professionals.
One of the students, Semaje Vaughn, presented Durk with his flowers. Vaughn said he had no hope for his future in this program.
“I didn’t believe in anything, but to be able to get opportunities like this is a big step up from where I was. “
Lil Durk & the Community Heroes Donate Nearly 30,000 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer to Illinois Prisoners & Staff
If that’s not enough, Lil Durk even had his base partner with Chicago Votes. The two organizations distributed 29,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), as previously reported by The Shade Room. The distribution helped inmates and facility workers keep their hands clean as COVID-19 rates rebounded.
In addition, it was revealed that the case had been ongoing for months after a report came out about a serious water crisis inside one of the largest prisons in Illinois.
If you know Durk, you know that giving back is in his blood, from being on the front lines feeding Chicago’s essential workers during COVID to donating back-to-school supplies to elementary school kids school He is definitely a valuable voice of this generation.
