Kevin Hart, Meek Mill and Michael Rubin donate $7 million to help low-income students | Local News

Providing a good education for children in the city of Philadelphia can be both challenging and expensive but thanks to three area natives, it’ll become much easier for many families.

Award-winning hip-hop artist Robert Rihmeek Williams, known as Meek Mill, South Philadelphia born and North Philadelphia-raised, actor, comedian and Nicetown native Kevin Hart, and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, a Montgomery County native, stepped up to help close that financial burden.

Collectively, they announced a donation of $7 million to 60 private and parochial schools in need, serving low-income students from underserved families with scholarships for the 2023-24 academic year at schools in and around Philadelphia.

The beneficiaries include dozens of schools across the City of Brotherly Love with a special focus on the particular neighborhoods where Mill and Hart are from. The funds will be distributed to the schools in grant form to provide need-based scholarships for low to moderate-income families.

As many households have a lack of technology, the donations will also help fund classroom resources and access to much-needed at-home tech, including laptops, tablets and Wi-Fi connections.

The money is sent to the schools by approved scholarship organization, Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS).

BLOCS partners with more than 100 Archdiocesan and 300 private Catholic and non-Catholic schools to provide over 16,000 need-based scholarships each year and is a top scholarship organization in Pennsylvania. BLOCS also raises more than $50 million annually in private and corporate donations for families in need.

“We award tuition assistance to as many children — of any religion — as possible. Our work will continue until every family who desires a value-based Catholic education can afford one,” according to information on BLOCS’ website.

The families have to apply for the funding annually and must provide proof of income from the previous year and family demographics to qualify for funding.

This $7 million donation marks the latest addition to Meek Mill’s and Rubin’s ongoing commitment to give back to communities in need that has culminated in a total of $17 million in donations over the years.

These social good efforts fall on the heels of other initiatives hosted during the 2022 holiday season.

Rubin and Meek Mill partnered with REFORM Alliance (to which they are co-chairs), the Philadelphia Eagles and the 76ers for the annual return of the “Season of Giving” event — a special VIP experience for more than 30 children who have been negatively impacted by the criminal justice system.

The day included a junior combine at the Eagles headquarters, a meet-and-greet with players such as Jalen Hurts and Darius Slay. The children also met with 76ers head coach Doc Rivers and attended a basketball game as the Sixers defeated the Sacramento Kings. Additionally, Meek Mill paid the bail for 20 Philadelphia women to reunite them with their families for the recent Christmas holiday.

REFORM Alliance was founded in 2019 and aims to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and well-being.

“A justice system that holds people accountable and redirects back to work and well-being leads to stronger families and safer communities. Instead of keeping people trapped in a revolving door from probation/parole to prison — which costs taxpayers billions of dollars — we’re working to move people from the justice system into stability,” according to REFORM’s website.