More than 1,500 international, government and corporate leaders gathered this week to honor six-time Grammy Award winner John Legend, but not for his accomplishments onstage. The singer-songwriter took the microphone at the Africare gala at the Washington Hilton for a different reason Tuesday night. Now he is using his soulful voice to inspire and motivate.
"I'm passionate for making a difference," Mr. Legend said during his speech accepting Africare's Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award.
"We want to honor [Mr. Legend's] personal commitment to ending poverty and to improve the lives of people in Africa," said W. Frank Fountain, chairman of Africare. "He is truly a role model for us at any age to follow. He represents us and humanity around the world."
Africare, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) working in partnership with Africans to build sustainable, healthy communities on the continent, once a year honors a humanitarian who has helped its mission. The Walker award was first given in 1990 in memory of Bishop Walker, a popular leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and Africare's longtime board chairman. He died in 1989.
Since then, the humanitarian award has been given to former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, and former South African President Nelson Mandela, among many others.
According to its Web site, Africare presents the award to an "outstanding citizen who has dedicated himself or herself to improving the quality of life for the people of Africa."
Mr. Legend, who "is challenging a new generation not only to care, but to take action," has done just that.
In 2007, Mr. Legend launched the Show Me Campaign to end poverty in Africa through sustainable and practical developments. The program works with college students in the United States to raise awareness of the effects of poverty in Africa, providing students with ways to get involved through Mr. Legend's Poverty Action Tour. The Show Me Campaign aims to free people from the "devastating effects of poverty" and provide development, service and education in Africa.
The campaign partners with Millennium Promise, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, the Gentlemen's Fund and United We Serve, all organizations that seek to help people in Africa.
Mr. Legend said he recently toured African countries and saw the poverty firsthand, and he's trying to tell the world that the problems in the U.S. are minor compared to Africa's.
By Kara Rowland - The Washington Times
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