Philanthropy
Swift's philanthropic efforts have been recognized by the
Do Something Awards,
[428] The Giving Back Fund
[429] and the Tennessee Disaster Services.
[430]
In 2012,
Michelle Obama presented Swift with The Big Help Award for her "dedication to helping others" and "inspiring others through action."
[431] Also that year,
Kerry Kennedy of the
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
presented Swift with the Ripple of Hope Award because of her
"dedication to advocacy at such a young age ... Taylor is just the kind
of woman we want our daughters to be."
[432][433]
Swift is a supporter of arts education. In 2010, she donated $75,000
to Nashville's Hendersonville High School to help refurbish the school
auditorium's sound and lighting systems.
[434] In 2012, she pledged $4 million to fund the building of a new education center at the
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.
[435] The 7,500-square-foot building opened in 2014 and will facilitate new programs and workshops for teenagers and senior citizens.
[436][437]
The space includes three classrooms and an exhibit space, and houses
interactive activities such as a musical petting zoo and a "wet"
classroom space to make concert posters and other art projects.
[438] Museum officials named it The Taylor Swift Education Center and the singer is involved in an advisory capacity.
[439] Also in 2012, Swift partnered with textbook rental company
Chegg to donate $60,000 to the music departments of six US colleges.
[440][441] In 2013, Swift donated $100,000 to the
Nashville Symphony.
[442]
Swift promotes children's literacy. In 2009, she donated $250,000 to
various schools around the country that she had either attended or had
other associations with. The money was used to buy books, fund
educational programs and help pay teachers' salaries.
[443] In 2010, she took part in a live webcast,
Read Now! with Taylor Swift, broadcast exclusively in US schools to celebrate
Scholastic's Read Every Day campaign.
[444][445] In 2011, Swift donated 6,000 Scholastic books to
Reading Public Library, Pennsylvania
[446] and, in 2012, she donated 14,000 books to
Nashville Public Library, Tennessee.
[447]
Most of the books were placed in circulation; the rest were given to
children from low-income families, preschools and daycare centers.
[447] In 2012, she co-chaired the
National Education Association's Read Across America campaign and recorded a
PSA encouraging children to read.
[448] Also in 2012, Swift promoted the "power of reading" in a second live Scholastic webcast, broadcast directly to US classrooms.
[449] In 2013, through the
Reach Out and Read initiative, she donated 2,000 Scholastic books to the
Reading Hospital Child Health Center's early literacy program.
[450] In 2014, she appeared in a
READ campaign
[451] and took part in another Scholastic webcast, broadcast in US classrooms.
[452] Also that year, she donated all proceeds from her song "Welcome to New York" to New York City Public Schools.
[453]
Throughout her career, Swift has donated money for helping victims of
natural disasters. In 2008, she donated the proceeds from her
merchandise sales at the Country Music Festival to the
Red Cross's disaster relief fund.
[454] Later that year, she donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to help the victims of the
Iowa flood of 2008.
[455] In 2009, Swift supported the
Victorian Bushfire Appeal by joining the lineup at Sydney's
Sound Relief concert,
[456] reportedly making the biggest contribution of any artist to the Australian
Red Cross.
[457] In 2010, she took part in the
Hope for Haiti telethon; she performed and answered phone calls from viewers wishing to donate money.
[458] She also recorded a song for the
Hope for Haiti Now album.
[459] In response to the
May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a telethon hosted by
WSMV.
[460]
Later that year, she donated $100,000 to help rebuild a playground in
Hendersonville, Tennessee which was damaged by floodwater.
[461]
In 2011, Swift used the final dress rehearsal for the North American
leg of her Speak Now tour as a benefit concert for victims of
recent tornadoes in the United States, raising more than $750,000.
[462] She also donated $250,000 to
Alabama football coach
Nick Saban's charity, Nick's Kids, to aid in the tornado relief efforts of West Alabama.
[463] In 2012, Swift supported
Architecture for Humanity's Restore the Shore MTV telethon in the aftermath of
Hurricane Sandy.
[464]
Swift opposes
LGBT discrimination. Following the 2008
murder of Larry King, she recorded a
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network PSA to combat hate crimes.
[465] On the first anniversary of King's death, Swift told
Seventeen that her parents taught her "never to judge others based on whom they love, what color their skin is, or their religion."
[466]
In 2011, the music video for Swift's anti-bullying song "Mean" dealt in
part with homophobia in high schools; the video was later nominated for
an MTV VMA social activism award.
[467][468][469] The New York Times
believes she is part of "a new wave of young (and mostly straight)
women who are providing the soundtrack for a generation of gay fans
coming to terms with their identity in a time of turbulent and confusing
cultural messages."
[467]
The singer is involved with a number of charities which provide
services to sick children. In 2008, she donated a pink Chevy pick-up
truck to the
Victory Junction Gang Camp; the truck is used to transport sick children from the airport to the camp.
[470] In 2011, as the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year, Swift donated $25,000 to
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. This figure was matched by the Academy.
[471] In 2012, Swift participated in the
Stand Up to Cancer telethon, performing "
Ronan", a song she wrote in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of
neuroblastoma. The song was made available for digital download, with all proceeds donated to cancer-related charities.
[472] In 2014, she donated $100,000 to the
V Foundation for Cancer Research[473] and $50,000 to
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
[474] Swift has met with many sick fans through the
Make-A-Wish Foundation.
[475][476][477][478] She has also made private visits to hospitals such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the
Ronald McDonald House,
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,
Children's Hospital & Medical Center and
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
[479][480][481][482][483][484]
Swift has encouraged young people to volunteer in their local community as part of
Global Youth Service Day.
[485]
In 2007, she launched a campaign to protect children from online
predators, in partnership with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of
Police.
[486] Also in 2007, she supported an
Allstate campaign which promotes safe teenage driving.
[487] In 2009, Swift recorded a Sound Matters PSA to make listeners aware of the importance of listening "
responsibly."
[488] She appeared in a
Got Milk? campaign in 2010.
[489] Swift has donated auctionable items to a large number of charities, including the
Elton John AIDS Foundation,
[490] the
UNICEF Tap Project,
[491] Oxfam International,
[492] Habitat for Humanity,
[493] MusiCares[494] and
Feeding America.
[495] She has also performed at a number of benefit concerts, including for the
Food Bank For New York City,
[496] and
Shriners Hospitals for Children
