Image via Publicist
Celebrities and entertainers are showing love to their communities this Thanksgiving.
This year, some of the biggest names in hip-hop and beyond hosted charity events and turkey drives for families in need. Among those giving back are 50 Cent in collaboration with the Houston Rockets, Fetty Wap, the whole Quality Control label, and Russell Westbrook via his Why Not? Foundation.
Check out a round-up of some of the ways some of the biggest names in entertainment gave back this year.
Russell Westbrook
Los Angeles Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook and his Why Not? Foundation hosted a Thanksgiving meal distribution drive at Jesse Owens Park in L.A. last week.
"Yesterday my friends, family & I were in LA handing out Thanksgiving meals to those in need," he tweeted on Sunday. "Things are challenging right now & people are struggling. This is why it is more important than ever for me to support my community any way I can while keeping everyone safe."
The 32-year-old NBA star was raised in Hawthorne, California, and later played with UCLA during his college years.
The drive was the 11th annual event from the Westbrook-founded organization.
50 Cent and the Houston Rockets
50 Cent’s G-Unity Foundation and the Houston Rockets hosted a turkey giveaway in Houston on Thursday, and the hip-hop mogul was there to personally hand out food to the community.
Per Click 2 Houston, the event was limited to the first 1,000 families who showed up and saw many gifted with food items donated by Fif’s foundation, Kroger, and Spec’s. Additionally, families walked away with ticket vouchers to upcoming Rockets home games.
Diddy and Yung Miami
In partnership with the Miami Rescue Mission, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Yung Miami are spending their Thanksgiving serving meals to Miami’s homeless community. Joined by Diddy’s daughters Chance, D’Lila, and Jessie at The Caring Place, they’ll be part of a team providing meals to over 3,000 people in need.
Image via Getty Images / Alex Tamargo
Image via Getty Images / Alex Tamargo
Fat Joe
Bronx rapper Fat Joe is always eager to give back during the holiday season, and this year is no different. For the third year in a row, he’s hosted a Thanksgiving food giveaway with Krasdale Foods and C-Town Supermarkets. A total of 3,000 bags of holiday meal essentials were provided to families across three different Up NYC locations in the city. Joe even stopped by the Bronx location of the stores to pose for pictures with fans and hand out the food himself, News12 reported.
“Groceries are very expensive this time of year, inflation, so we give back to the community as much as we can to people in need,” said Fat Joe. “We feed them, we gave them turkeys, we gave them produce, we gave them all kinds of food.”
Quality Control
Quality Control and Goodr teamed up last year when Pierre “P” Thomas and Kevin “Coach K” Lee donated $100,000 to feed 1,000 families across Georgia. This year, they worked together again to host a Thanksgiving senior luncheon for 300 Atlanta elders.
The luncheon catered to elderly residents on Monday, November 21 at the Baptist Towers Senior Home, and was followed up by a pop-up grocery market for 300 families. They were all provided with turkeys and the trimmings for their holiday meals. “We receive so many blessings on a daily basis and it’s important to us at QC to give back to our community and show love to those who need it,” said Thomas.
“We are grateful to the heads of Quality Control for their ongoing commitment to giving back to their community,” added Goodr CEO Jasmine Crowe. “The impact we have made since our first activation is something we are very proud of at Goodr. Seniors especially hold a special place in my heart and we at Goodr look forward to bringing them some holiday spirit.”
Fetty Wap
In his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, rapper Fetty Wap hosted a “Sweet Yamz” giveaway in partnership with Dr. Mills principal of College Achieve Paterson, his sister Divinity Maxwell, and frequent collaborator Monty. Offering up free food and groceries for everyone who attended the drive on Tuesday, the event included canned yams with Fetty’s face on the label.
"I’m very grateful for my fans and for my community because I wouldn’t be where I am without them,” said Fetty. “Giving back, especially in my hometown, is very important to me no matter what the circumstances are. Even though I can’t be there in person, shout-out to every single one of my fans, supporters, and everyone that’s still rocking with me!”
Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow
After Fivio Foreign and Dream Doll worked with them last year, Children of Promise NYC is helping to feed impoverished children with Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow.
The drill rappers teamed up with the foundation to hand out turkeys this week, and they brought along Winners Circle Entertainment to help the proceedings. The non-profit provides support, guidance, and resources to children with incarcerated parents. “It’s about putting the kids first,” said Sleepy Hallow of the drive.