Lady Gaga funds Gilroy classroom projects after Garlic Festival shooting
Lady Gaga’s nonprofit Born This Way Foundation will fund more than 150 classroom projects in cities across the country rocked by mass shootings in recent weeks, including 23 in Gilroy.
The singer and actress made the announcement Friday on Facebook in what she said was a note to the people Dayton, Ohio; El Paso, Texas and Gilroy.
“My heart goes out to those who were taken from us too soon and to their families, loved ones, and communities who are left to grieve,” she wrote. “In this moment, I want to channel my confusion, frustration, and fury into hope. Hope that we are there for each other and for ourselves.”
Three people were killed when a gunman opened fire at Gilroy’s famed Garlic Festival on the afternoon of July 28. Less than a week later on Aug. 3, a gunman who said he was targeting Latinos killed 22 people at an El Paso Walmart on the same day a man killed nine people in Dayton.
The donations are part of a partnership between the Born This Way Foundation and the crowd-funding platform DonorsChoose.org, where teachers seek support for classroom supplies.
Gaga’s foundation is fully funding requests for donations from 162 teachers in the three communities. In addition to the 23 Gilroy projects, 125 classrooms in El Paso and 14 in Dayton had their fundraising goals met.
On the fundraising site, she wrote that students in those communities “will now have access to the support they need to inspire their students to build a kinder, braver world.”
Gaga also directed supporters to other school fundraisers across the country on Donors Choose.