Black Positive People : jill scott gives back

jamesfrmphilly

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Jun 18, 2004
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BESIDES HER music and on-screen roles, one of the things that's just so likable about singer-actress Jill Scott is how down-to-earth she is.
We were chatting yesterday about her holiday fundraiser scheduled for Saturday when she mentioned one of her pet projects is the library at Peirce Elementary School, which she used to attend. When I asked her why she transferred out of T.M. Peirce, Scott said, "I was fighting all the time. I'm from North Philadelphia. Please don't get it twisted." I laughed out loud at that because it's so hard to imagine.

In 2001, Scott was among the local notables who donated money and resources to restock Peirce's outdated library with fresh books and reopened with new computers. And she's not about to walk away now.

She feels just as strongly about the Cecil B. Moore Recreation Center, where she remembers being in a fashion show and doing karaoke to a Prince song. Scott spent more than $100,000 in 2006 installing new floors, fixing the leaky roof, refurbishing the kitchen and other improvements.

"I just wanted the kids to have somewhere to go where they can dream and feel safe," Scott said.

Her annual Camp Jill Scott for underprivileged kids in North Philadelphia is another labor of love.

Last summer, 40 kids were able to get out of their neighborhoods every day for a week. It was a chance for them to just be kids playing dodge ball, practicing archery and swimming.

"Coming from gunshots on a normal basis and drug dealers on the corners, just to get away from that gives a brand-new perspective on life," Scott told me.

Scott knows. She grew up in a single-parent household.

"It's just because I was one of those kids. I remember all of the glass in the schoolyard. I remember the graffiti on the walls . . . the hallways would smell like pee," she told me. "I'd sit on my steps and read Edgar Allan Poe to the drug dealers. These kinds of experiences made me who I am."

Scott's foundation, Blues Babes, is named after her late grandmother. And in addition to funding the Peirce school library, the recreation center and the camp, the foundation provides scholarships to 2003 and 2004 graduates of Camden's Creative Arts High School. Blues Babes also provided much-needed financing for Phatback Athletics.

Saturday's fundraiser at Material Culture, 4700 Wissahickon Ave., costs $100 in advance and $150 at the door.

Although it's not a concert, Scott plans to sing three to four songs from her upcoming album, "In the Light of the Sun."

"We are raising funds for our community," she said. "It's not an all-night performance. So be prepared to network and to donate some funds to this program here."



Read more: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/fea...__Jill_Scott_s_giving_back.html#ixzz16nJywaES
 

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