Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell praises Tyler Perry for his recent $98,000 donation to Project H.O.O.D., which will help construct a community center. She says the center will serve the audience that helped build Perry's career.
I love me some Tyler Perry.
On Friday, Perry closed out Black History Month by donating $98,000 to Project H.O.O.D.
The rooftop campaign, led by the Rev. Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church, began on Nov. 22. The goal was to raise $450,000 needed to buy a boarded-up motel at 6625 S. King Drive, then replace it with a community center.
The publicity stunt was also supposed to focus attention on the city’s deplorable violence.
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Brooks had been up on the roof for 94 days. During his self-imposed exile, Brooks managed to raise most of the money needed to purchase the blighted structure.
Although some of Brooks’ peers supported his bodacious effort, others snubbed the crusade.
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“The lord didn’t give it to me to go up on the roof to raise money,” is the way one minister put it.
Perry’s hefty contribution, along with $85,000 from an anonymous donor, gave Brooks the victory over the Doubting Thomases.
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“When I got the news, I was speechless and just cried like a big baby and even now at this very moment I am overwhelmed with joy because people understand the importance of this cause. We must stop gun violence!” Brooks said in an e-mail.
Read Mary Mitchell's entire column at the Chicago Sun-Times.
