Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving donates $45,000 to GoFundMe to benefit a school in Nigeria and an orphanage in Ghana – as his generosity takes fundraising to $65,000 – 13 times its original goal!
Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving donated $45,000 to a fundraiser that benefits children in two communities in West Africa.
The fundraiser was started by 22-year-old traveler Cameron Mofid, who initially set a goal of $5,000 to help build a new orphanage in Ghana and improve a school and fund supplies for his students in Nigeria .
This campaign has now raised more than $65,000 in donations to help children in the cities of Accra in Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria.
“I just got back from backpacking in West Africa and set up 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 take off. 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 initiated the campaign to help a Nigerian school and a Ghanaian orphanage
Irving donated $45,000 to help children in the cities of Accra in Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria
“His donation provides a water tank for the school in Nigeria (so they have access to clean drinking water) and also ensures that all 351 students in 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 him to achieve his goals with just $5,000.
“We initially raised enough to buy the land for the new orphanage in Ghana,” Mofid explains to DailyMail.com.
“Kyrie’s donation should be enough to fund the entire building of the orphanage and a sports center for the children.
‘We have already named a classroom in the school in Nigeria after him and the future sports complex at the orphanage in Ghana will also be named after him.
“Kyrie’s donation means we’ve now reached more than 13x our original 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 her post went live, Irving presented the five-figure amount, leaving Thompson overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness.
For more information about the campaign and for updates on 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 fund the construction of a new orphanage and sports center for the children – which will be named after him, Mofid tells DailyMail.com
