Kyrie Irving has made it a regular habit of donating to causes and people he is not directly connected to, but his efforts are often overshadowed by negative press. Well, the Dallas Mavericks point guard has done it again with a $45,000 donation to a man who wanted to help two organizations located in Nigeria and Ghana.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Irving made a hefty donation to a man who was looking to raise $5,000 to help out an orphanage and impoverished school in Africa. On a GoFundMe account started
by Cameron Mofid, the 22-year-old from Miami stated that he had just returned from an overseas trip through West Africa. He expressed his desire to help out a school in Nigeria and an orphanage in Ghana.He initially started with a fundraising goal of $1,000 but raised it to $5,000 when 170 donors contributed within a week. Over the weekend, when Mofid headed back to the page to see an update, he was shocked when he noticed the lofty amount donated by Irving. On the page, he saw a $45,000 donation from “Kyrie.”
“I actually thought it was a mistake or a scam, like spam mail,” Mofid told The Dallas Morning News. After doing some online research, Mofid saw that Irving had a history of making donations to causes he believed in. “That’s when I went into a state of shock,” Mofid said.
When it was
verified that Irving did make the donation, he notified the people in Nigeria of the large donation. According to Mofid, the kids and teachers, in a state of excitement, made videos thanking him and taking pictures that featured a handmade sign, signifying the “Kyrie Irving Classroom” for the school that will be built.“It’s really amazing,” Mofid said. “I haven’t slept much because we’ve been figuring out all of our new plans. Initially, we had just raised enough money to buy backpacks and to buy the land for the new orphanage.
“His donation single-handedly will build the entire orphanage in Ghana. It will buy a water tank for the kids in Nigeria. They live in a village with little access to clean drinking water. And so we’ll be able to buy a water tank; we’ll be able to buy shoes for all the kids. And books.
“And we will build a new basketball court in [Irving’s] honor.”