The Louisville-born rapper unveiled the Jack Harlow Foundation, which will focus on local giving in his home state, ahead of an event recognizing him as a ‘Hometown Hero.’
Spring marks the onset of Jack Harlow season. The Louisville-born rapper dropped his third album, Jackman, last Friday. However, with all eyes on his hometown in the runup to the Kentucky Derby, he’s looking to intensify his local impact.
Harlow announced on Wednesday that he will launch the Jack Harlow Foundation. The reveal came in as Harlow prepared to be recognized as part of the city’s “Hometown Heroes” program. Louisville unveiled the banner commemorating the “First Class” rapper, and Harlow acknowledged the Hometown Heroes had inspired him throughout his life.
“If someone asked me if I’d rather have a Grammy or this, I’d choose this. A million times,” he told the crowd.
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The Jack Harlow Foundation will ground itself in a mission to “reinvest, uplift and support organizations aiming to make the city that raised him a better place.”
In a release, Harlow reflected on the launch and forecasted the future of the Foundation: “The launch of my foundation is represented by gifts to [four] organizations that I believe are doing the work of making Louisville a better place; helping under resourced families remove obstacles to higher education, supporting a new start in a neighborhood that has been lacking investment, giving hands on assistance to the poorest of the poor, and making safe housing affordable for families.”
The move is only the most recent in Harlow’s efforts to pour back into the city that raised him. Previously, the rapper donated to civil rights causes in Louisville. He credits his mother with fostering his philanthropic spirit, and for encouraging him to look locally. In a 2021 interview with People, Harlow said, “Louisville is part of my DNA … I took some counsel from my mom, she has always had a giving heart … I really wanted to dive in and figure out what hit home for me.” That same year he teamed up with KFC to donate $250,000 in the wake of the tornadoes that ripped through the state.
To begin, the Foundation will focus its giving on four local organizations: Adelante Hispanic Achievers, Centro Latino, Russell: A Place of Promise, and Sponsor4Success.
However, for Harlow, the Foundation’s launch is only the beginning.
“Know that this is just the start of my philanthropic legacy and I look forward to transforming our community and, as a result, the success and happiness of its citizens,” he said.
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