Lady Gaga has teamed up with Robin Hood Foundation, a charity serving the poor and homeless in New York City, to donate $ 1 million to help needy youth — and she’s asking her legion of Little Monsters to help her choose a worthy charity.
“I’m thrilled to be working with the Robin Hood Foundation to distribute funds to help the youth of New York City. NYC is my hometown and I think investing in these kids’ future will go a long way…” remarked Gaga, who has helped raise millions for HIV/AIDS research, thanks to her partnership with MAC’s Viva Glam campaign.
In a poll posted to Gaga’s Facebook page allows fans to vote on which of five organizations that specialize in helping teens living in poverty will win the grand prize. The selected charity will be announced during a private concert benefiting Robin Hood on May 9.
“At Robin Hood, we don’t give grants by popular vote, it’s by results…The exposure that comes from someone who has 32 million Facebook fans is a great opportunity for us, but at the end of the day this promotion, this contest, is about helping people who need it and doing it in a way that is not superficial,” Mark Bezos, Robin Hood’s senior vice-president of development and communications, tells Mashable.com.
“As poverty-fighters, we are thrilled with Lady Gaga’s generosity to support New York City’s disconnected youth,” says David Saltzman, the foundation’s executive director
Here’s a look at the groups up for contention, per The New York Daily News.
-SCO Family of Services, which helps New York City’s homeless and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth receive support services;
-Lawyers for Children, which helps New York City youth get access to safe housing, educational opportunities and fair and equal treatment;
-The Door, which offers medical, social, educational, recreational and legal services;
-Hetrick-Martin Institute, which helps provide medical, education, career development and HIV prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth;
-Safe Horizon, which puts homeless and abused youth in contact with support services.
The benefitting charity will receive two $500,000 grants over two years. All other charities will be gifted with smaller grants.
