Philanthropy
Since his appearance on American Idol, Lambert has lent considerable support and time to charitable causes. As of October 2011, financial donations had reached the $1,000,000 mark.
In January 2009, in lieu of gifts for his 28th birthday, Lambert asked fans to donate to DonorsChoose.org, an online charity in which individuals contribute directly to public school projects. Support was focused on music and arts programs, as 2,435 fans donated $322,700. In June 2010, Lambert teamed with the charity again for his "Glam A Classroom" campaign, raising another $208,590, supported by 3,020 fans. In October 2010, he collaborated on a second Signature Collection design with The Pennyroyal Studio, which sold out after raising an additional $43,092 for DonorsChoose.
Lambert contributed to the MusiCares charity when he and The Pennyroyal Studio collaborated on the design of an Eye of Horus pendant, whose sale raised $32,000 in 7 days.
In January 2011, he began a campaign to raise $29,000 for charity: water to commemorate his 29th birthday. Funds raised by charity: water go towards bringing clean drinking water to people in developing nations. Fans surpassed the goal in less than five hours; and on Lambert's birthday, more than $115,000 was pledged, breaking the record for dollars raised in a single day. By the end of the campaign, $323,803 had been raised, which helped 16,190 people receive clean water. He continued his efforts for his 30th birthday, in January 2012, this time asking fans to "give up" their birthdays in an ongoing drive that had raised $82,000 by May 2012. In June, 2013, an accounting by charity:water listed 55 projects thus far completed with funds raised by Lambert.
Lambert returned to the American Idol stage for the March 10, 2011, results show, singing an acoustic version of his For Your Entertainment track "Aftermath". After the performance, a dance remix version was made available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting The Trevor Project.
Lambert was one of several artists who performed at a Royal Albert Hall concert on June 7, 2012 benefiting the Rays Of Sunshine Children's Charity, which grants wishes to seriously ill children.
On June 30, Elton John and Queen + Adam Lambert coordinated with the Olena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation for a concert to benefit the fight against HIV/AIDS. The event, which was UEFA supported and took place in Kiev on the eve of the Euro 2012 football final, was televised live from a packed Independence Square.
On September 25, 2012, Lambert headlined a fundraising benefit in Washington, D.C. at the 9:30 Club on behalf of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the group leading the campaign for a November 2012 ballot measure to uphold gay marriage, which Lambert views as a non-partisan, human rights issue.
On January 31, 2013 he received the Unity Award, which honors artists whose music spreads "peaceful messages," from the We Are Family Foundation at their 2012 Celebration Gala 2.0. Founded by Nile Rodgers, the organization is a non-profit which seeks to promote global initiatives and cultural diversity through its outreach programs, many of which are aimed at facilitating youth leaders from around the world. Lambert's announcement that he would "donate" his 31st birthday to the charity raised more than $82,000 in just over a week.
On May 25, Lambert was a participant in the opening ceremony of 2013 Life Ball in Vienna, an elaborate event that is one of the largest HIV/AIDS fundraisers in the world. Appearing as Ali Baba, he performed the gala's official song, "Love Wins Over Glamour", which he co-wrote with the Vienna based production team Beat4Feet.
On June 23, he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" to open Broadway Bares, an annual performance presented by the theater community to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The latter is one of the leading industry based organizations in the US fighting HIV/AIDS. Held at Manhattan's Roseland Ballroom, Broadway Bares 23 raised a record breaking $1.43 million.
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Famous quotes containing the word philanthropy:
“I shall not be forward to think him mistaken in his method who quickest succeeds to liberate the slave. I speak for the slave when I say that I prefer the philanthropy of Captain Brown to that philanthropy which neither shoots me nor liberates me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Almost every man we meet requires some civility,—requires to be humored; he has some fame, some talent, some whim of religion or philanthropy in his head that is not to be questioned, and which spoils all conversation with him. But a friend is a sane man who exercises not my ingenuity, but me.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“... the hey-day of a woman’s life is on the shady side of fifty, when the vital forces heretofore expended in other ways are garnered in the brain, when their thoughts and sentiments flow out in broader channels, when philanthropy takes the place of family selfishness, and when from the depths of poverty and suffering the wail of humanity grows as pathetic to their ears as once was the cry of their own children.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)