Rapper 50 Cent spent the weekend bringing joy to kids from his native Queens neighborhood, despite New York authorities refusing him permission to play a secret show.
Though his secret concert plans fell through due to safety concerns, the rap artist continued with his plans for Family Day, arranging for hundreds of local kids to be bussed the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in New Jersey on Saturday, and held a picnic event back in the borough of Queens on Sunday.
“I am constantly searching for ways to give back to the community that helped create me and contributed to my success,” said 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson. “I can think of no better way to do this than to help improve the lives of the young people that reside there through programs created by my foundation.”
Family Day was sponsored by Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project, which is a non-profit agency that focuses on support for low-income families, and 50’s own G-Unity Foundation. He established the foundation as a way of supporting the academic enrichment of students in low-income or underserved communities. Since its inception, the foundation has created the G-Unity Scholarship Fund at Queensborough Community College in New York and issued thousands of dollars in grant money to various nonprofit organizations.
