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Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving donates $45,000 to GoFundMe to benefit a school in Nigeria and an orphanage in Ghana as his generosity brings the fundraiser to $65,000, 13 times the initial goal!
Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has donated $45,000 to a fundraiser benefiting children in two West African communities.
The fundraiser was started by 22-year-old traveler Cameron Mofid, who initially set a goal of $5k to help build a new orphanage in Ghana and upgrade a school and fund supplies for his students in Nigeria.
This campaign has now surpassed $65,000 in donations to help children in the cities of Accra in Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria.
“I just got back from a backpacking trip through West Africa and started a GoFundMe to raise money for a school in a slum in Nigeria and an orphanage in Ghana that I visited,” Mofid told DailyMail.com
‘We raised over $10,000 in the first week with the support of over 200 people and the fundraiser started to trend. Yesterday I woke up to a $45,000 donation from basketball star Kyrie Irving.
Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving made a large donation to a GoFundMe campaign
Cameron Mofid launched the campaign to help a school in Nigeria and an orphanage in Ghana
Irving donated $45,000 to help children in the cities of Accra in Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria
“Your donation will provide a water tank for the school in Nigeria (so they have access to clean drinking water) and will also ensure that the 351 students at the school have shoes, uniforms, books and backpacks.”
Mofid says the difference in purchasing power between the United States and the two countries is about 10 times greater in Ghana and Nigeria, allowing it to reach its goals with just $5,000.
“Initially we raised enough to buy the land for the new orphanage in Ghana,” Mofid told DailyMail.com.
Kyrie’s donation should be enough to fund the entire building of the orphanage, as well as a sports center for the children.
‘We have already named a classroom at the school in Nigeria after him and the future sports complex at the orphanage in Ghana will also bear his name.
“Kyrie’s donation means we are now 13 times over our initial goal of $5,000.”
In December, Irving donated $22,000 to help a young student stay enrolled at Howard University.
Destiny Thompson, a sophomore civil engineering student, started a GoFundMe Page with the goal of raising $6,000.
Just two days after his post went live, Irving submitted the five-figure sum, leaving Thompson overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness.
For more information about the campaign and updates about the project, visit the GoFundMe Page.
Irving’s donation will help provide schoolchildren with uniforms, supplies, backpacks and fresh water.
Meanwhile, in Ghana, Irving will help fully finance the construction of a new orphanage, as well as a sports center for the children, which will bear his name, Mofid tells DailyMail.com.