Meek Mill is doing his part to make sure students in Philadelphia have all the proper tools they need for a productive school year.
As part of a charitable back-to-school initiative, Mill and his Dream Chasers team announced Wednesday morning that they are donating over 6,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to students in need at 12 Philadelphia public schools. Mill will make visits to two of the schools—his alma mater James G. Blaine Elementary as well as Randolph Technical High School—and personally hand out backpacks.
"Growing up in Philly, I’ve watched families struggle to make ends meet and buy basic school supplies for their kids," Mill said in a statement. "Those memories stay with me and that’s why I’m committed to giving back to families in my hometown, putting smiles on kids’ faces and helping them start the school year on the right note with the right supplies."
School District of Philadelphia superintendent Dr. William R. Hite added, "We are excited that so many of our students will have brand new backpacks and school supplies for this school year, and are grateful to Meek Mill and the Dream Chasers for giving back to the community. This visit is something our students won't soon forget and is a wonderful way to kick off the new school year."
The back-to-school initiative continues a charitable streak for the 31-year-old rapper. For the past five years, Mill and the Chasers have been giving away turkeys to hundreds of families in need on Thanksgiving. The annual tradition even continued last year despite Mill serving time behind bars for probation violations.
In July, Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin revealed Mill will be involved in a "major foundation" that will focus on criminal justice reform. "Over the last six months, I've probably spent about a third of my time on criminal justice reform, because the whole system is totally broken," Rubin told Bleacher Report. "So we're taking on the whole criminal justice system now, and we're gonna be announcing a major foundation soon. I'm going to be highly involved with it, Meek's going to be highly involved with it, and some other big people who you know and follow and care about will also be very involved with it. We think we can launch what will be the most impactful foundation within criminal justice reform and create a movement."
In other Meek Mill news, Variety reports he'll be making his return to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Sept. 4, where he'll be performing as the show's musical guest. Meek will also sit down for an interview with Fallon. Last year, he was arrested just hours after appearing on the show.
