Despite the collapse of his relationship with Kim Kardashian and the loss of his good friend, Virgil Abloh, , Kanye West is finding ways to move on and give back to his hometown, Chicago. Recently, Kanye donated four thousand toys to Chicago’s annual toy drive. Kanye donated the toys to give back to the families in the underserved neighborhood of Englewood in Chicago. Chicago Alderman, Stephanie Coleman, called Kanye “Chicago’s modern day Santa Claus this year.” Stephanie said that Kanye responded to a request to support the children of Englewood. Below are a few more highlights from People:
West, 44, donated the majority of the more than 4,000 toys that were given away at a Sunday event in the Englewood neighborhood, according to the alderman for the area, Stephanie Coleman.
“I’m so proud that Kanye is, once again, responding to our request to help the children of Englewood and beyond,” Coleman said, per ABC7. “He is no stranger to our community. His presence has always been felt in our neighborhoods and he loves visiting, but this Christmas he has truly been our modern-day Santa Claus.”
“He is our hometown hero, and we want to thank him for understanding that children in Englewood, and on the South Side and in Chicago in general, some will be without this holiday,” she added at the event, WGN reported. “Some are without their fathers due to gun violence, due to mass incarceration, so today, we are here being a blessing.”
West, himself, didn’t attend the event, which reportedly feature food, games and, of course, a visit from Santa Claus, with the help of various local businesses and organizations.
“It isn’t about just Christmas, but it’s a day about unity,” Coleman told the Chicago Sun-Times. “And without unity, there is no community.”
This is such a feel good story. We are four days away from Christmas and Kanye is out here blessing people. Yes, Kanye is problematic AF in so many ways (I am still side-eying his presidential bid). I have written him off completely for being a tool in the hands of the Republican party. However, this story helps Kanye’s image a bit and I am sure the children and families of Englewood appreciate Ye’s support. I did not know how much Kanye gave back to Chicago and it is was lovely to read that Kanye gives back to Los Angeles also. I agree with the alderman that Kanye was a modern-day Santa Claus for the people of Englewood. I am sad Kanye wasn’t able to attend the gift giving but his presence would have caused a complete ruckus. But picturing those kids with their toys courtesy of Ye has possibly thawed my heart about an inch toward him (I won’t give anymore damn it). It is always nice to read stories about celebrities giving back to people. Those sort of stories will never get old for me.
Kanye is shown at the Los Angeles Mission on Thanksgiving. Credit: Instar. He is also shown at Rolling Loud last week. Credit: Backgrid
I love this. I was a huge Kanye fan back in the day before he went Trump-supporter. I love to see him do something like this – making a lot of kids happy and giving back to his hometown. I can’t help myself – I root for him.
Yea all of this makes up for ‘Slavery Is A CHOICE!’ , helping the careers/image if serial r*pist Marilyn Manson or homophobe DaBaby. Yes, this clearly makes up for all of it. How dare anyone think otherwise and be so ungrateful 💀
Interesting that he “gives back” after we learn that 1-he may have committed treason or at the very least election interference and 2-his independent presidential bid was run by seasoned Republican operatives in a bid to siphon voters away from Biden to keep the fascist Trump in power.
I was just about to write a similar comment. And so soon after the reveal his minion was terrorizing an election worker. Don’t you just love what good PR $ can buy?
To be fair, he made a donation to the LA Mission around Thanksgiving. That was before the other shenanigans came to light. He showed up for that event and when asked to speak he went on and on about Kim. My first thought when I saw this post was even a broken clock… Nobody is 100% good or evil we are all shades of gray.
I clicked on this post because I’m bipolar. Frequently he does something “assholic” and I feel the obligation to remind people that much of his behavior is a result of him being an asshole with bipolar disorder rather than the illness itself. He perpetuates the stigma of mental illness.
Translation: Kayne is doing damage control because his publicist was exposed for harassing Ruby Freeman, for the hundredth time since the 2020 election the press reports that Kayne’s presidential bid was sponsored by republicans(the press suffers from selective amnesia and is acting like this story is new, at the time that Kayne announced his presidential bid, it was reported that someone connected to the Trump administration was seen trying to put Kayne’s name on the ballots), and he received backlash for the “prison reform” concert(an attempt to distract from the Ruby Freeman and Astroworld stories) because he didn’t have the approval of Hoover’s family, only mentioned Hoover once, and turned the concert into a storyline for Kris’ reality tv show.
Can’t see how anyone can find a way to shade him for this kind gesture, but obviously they already have as we can see above.
Kanye has done other charitable acts for Chicago over the years. The need was greater this year and he filled a huge gap. He has gotten local press over the years for charitable acts. This was different because the Alderman made sure he was acknowledged. That area has a lot of violence and economic challenges.
He’s messy AH but he’s got a soft spot for Chicago. Publicity or not, this was a very good thing.