~The Grio
In conjunction with the Children First Fund for Chicago public schools, Chance the Rapper has announced his New Chance Arts and Literature Fund in partnership with Ingenuity, a local arts education advocacy group.
“We’re working with Ingenuity. There are literally thousands of arts programs we want to implement,” Chance said of the new fund.
The fund, which will go into effect for the 2017-2018 school year, will give money to schools in order to procure supplies for literature and the arts.
“As an artist and an after-school teacher, I know that the arts are essential. They teach kids invaluable lessons,” Chance told reporters during a press conference, which Chance livestreamed via Periscope.
“This is, you know, a philanthropic effort and a charitable effort,” he added. “The legal stuff, the election process, government…that’s all you guys’ choice individually. I’d like to think by constantly discussing it and you guys reporting on it, and us all becoming involved, the other sides besides philanthropic will get dealt with.”
During the press conference, the Chicago Bulls also announced that they would be donating $1 million to Chicago Public Schools, matching the amount that Chance himself had donated before in the effort to help the struggling school system.
