As we all know, Shaggy is a loving father of 5 children- that´s why the following project was a honorable thing to him. Alongside a book, which wants to help children learn reading, he recorded an Audio-CD for the "Shaggy Parrot and the Reggae Band" project. It´s for children from 7 years on.
Sales from the book and CD set benefits the Bustamante Hospital in Jamaica and Tatiana McIntosh Scholarship Fund in Florida. The book was also donated to basic schools in Jamaica to be used as part of their curriculum.
In June 2011, actor Samuel L. Jackson’s reading of Go the F*** to Sleep redefined the audio book for the Internet-driven 21st century. Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman marked the first time an audio book had been promoted to such a large TV audience, and soon more than one million people had listened to the audio book, which continues to sell thousands of copies every month.
With the publication of Go de Rass to Sleep, audio-book publisher Buck 50 Productions/Urban Audio Books has recruited worldwide reggae superstar to repeat Samuel L. Jackson’s coup, in a Jamaican fashion. Shaggy’s humor and verbal prowess are on full display as he reads the book’s stanzas.
To our knowledge, this is the first book ever to be translated into Jamaican patois other than the Bible (for which there is no audio book read by Shaggy). As with the original, Go de Rass to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don’t always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach’s verses perfectly capture the familiar–and unspoken–tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.
Wherever you go in life, make an impression.
Shaggy & Gentleman for #dontforgetafrica
Together with the German reggae artist Gentleman, Shaggy also supports the project "Together for Africa". This is a joint campaign by 24 German aid agencies and non-profit organizations. The aim of the campaign is to improve the living conditions in Africa. Patron of the campaign is the German Federal President Joachim Gauck, support the club "Together for Africa e.V."
In february 2016 Shaggy helped building a school in Jamaica. The non-profit of Serena, Williams, the Serena Williams Fund partnered with Helping Hands Jamaica to build the Salt Marsh Primary School. The mission of her charity is to help “individuals or communities effected by senseless violence, and [ensure] equal access to education.”
This is the third school Serena has built. Previous secondary schools were created in partnership with Build Africa Schools in Uganda and Kenya.
Without hesitating, Shaggy helped!!!!
Another project that Shaggy supports is the "Small Steps Project". Small Steps Project is a humanitarian organization and UK registered charity supporting children and their families on rubbish dumps. Shaggy signed a pair of Converse and made it available for a charity auction. A big thank you for that!!
Shaggy's main charity project is the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Jamaica, for which he has collected over 3 million U.S. dollars in numerous charitable projects.
The British Prince Harry has visited the hospital on his visit to Jamaica on 6 March 2012. A separate single titled "Save a Life" as well as the "Shaggy & Friends"-shirt, available in Shaggy´s online-store complete its commitment to this project.
Back in the late 1990´s, Shaggy was introduced to the Bustamante Hospital for Children whilst visiting a friend’s son who had been admitted there. He was so moved by what he saw, that he vowed to do whatever he could to make things better there for Jamaica’s children. This visit opened Shaggy’s eyes to the obstacles children faced with receiving medical care in Jamaica and the region, it being the only full service children’s hospital in the English speaking Caribbean, he resolved that something had to be done in order to improve the conditions there. For eight years he quietly made personal donations of medical equipment, which the hospital desperately needed, such as:
- 2001- A personal donation by Shaggy of two ventilators
- 2002- A personal donation by Shaggy of a Electroencephalogram (EEG) Machine
- 2003- A personal donation by Shaggy of a Table Top Sterilizing Machine
- 2005- Shaggy funded the Upgrade of the Medical Oxygen System
- 2006- Shaggy funded the Beautification of the Administrative Block
- 2008- Shaggy collaborated with Scotiabank to create a park & recreation area
- 2009- In 2009 Shaggy’s involvement with the hospital dramatically changed. Whilst on a routine visit there, he was approached by a father who insisted that he come visit his daughter, who was currently on a ventilator in the ICU. The father’s motivation, Shaggy later realized, was due to the fact that the man’s daughter was being kept alive by one of two ventilators Shaggy had previously donated to the hospital. Shaggy says, “As I stood with this distraught father watching his helpless daughter, “Apple”, he recounted to me that had it not been for the ventilator I had donated, his nine year old daughter who lay with a bullet lodged in her head would not have survived. To say I was moved would be an understatement. I decided then and there that somehow my involvement had to make a greater impact”. Shaggy realised, his humble donations paled comparison to the hospitals true needs list of over 2 Million US $ worth of equipment. So the first charity concert took place. 300.000 US $ were donated.
- 2010- 300.000 US $ were raised.
- 2012- The 2012 and 2014 combined funds were used to furnish the first diagnostic Catheterization Laboratory totally dedicated to children in the English speaking Caribbean.
- 2016- 450.000 US$ were raised.
- 2018- To date, the past 5 "Shaggy & Friends" concerts (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016) have raised a total of over 2 million US $.
The foundation helped over 3500 children to date! THANK YOU!
On January 3, 2009, Shaggy formally introduced a sustainable event that garnered funds to donate to the Bustamante Hospital for Children. This event was the first of his foundation, which he established following the visit with Apple’s father - “The Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation”. With just eight weeks of planning, the “Shaggy and Friends Benefit Concert” was held on the lawns of Jamaica House on January 3rd, 2009. It was well attended and successfully raised US $ 240,000.00 (J$27 Million) for the hospital. It included performances by Shaggy, Macy Gray, Sean Paul, Marcia Griffiths, Etana and a slew of popular Jamaican and Caribbean artistes all giving their time free of cost for the cause. Patrons were treated to an all inclusive “exclusive” event which went down as a memorable concert here in Jamaica winning awards as the year’s best event. Against all odds Shaggy & his team managed to create an awareness about the plight of the hospital, mobilised Jamaicans to get involved and support the cause. Never before had this been done, where a concert pledged and delivered on it’s promise of donating 100% of the proceeds to their cause. It can fairly be said, that the expectations for the January 2nd 2010 show were extremely high. Along with Shaggy’s production team they managed to raise the bar for concerts, so a great challenge lay ahead to meet and surpass 2009’s show. A slew of top Jamaican and Caribbean artistes including Mykal Rose, Tarrus Riley, Queen Ifrika, Baby Cham and Machel Montano willingly contributed their performances free of cost. Shaggy also reached out to Boyz to Men, Joe and Mario Winans who helped add an international appeal to an already amazing lineup. Once again the show garnered much support, was well produced and successful overall, raising US$ 260,000 (J$31Million) for the foundation. A difficult decision was made to not stage a Shaggy & Friends Concert in 2011. There were many factors which contributed, to this resolution.However, The Shaggy & Friends Benefit Concert would resume the following year. January 7, 2012, the Shaggy and Friends concert was once again staged on THE lawns of Jamaica House and raised US$ 260,000.00 (J$32 Million) for the children of the Bustamante Hospital for Children, this was announced by Orville ‘Shaggy’ Burrell at the hospital in late January.
This year, the proceeds from the concert will help to furnish the new ICU/cardiac ward working in partnership with Chain Of Hope Jamaica, a group of volunteer doctors and nurses who perform surgeries each year on our children with heart problems. In Jamaica, with a population of just under three (3) million, over 500 children are born each year with heart defects.
Shaggy stated that “he was heartened by the outpouring of support this year by so many Jamaicans and pledges to continue to support this cause and encourages Jamaicans to do so as well.”
To Date The Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation has raised a total of just over US$ 2,000,000 for the hospital.
Ongoing charity concerts with friends of Shaggy will continue to be held under the motto "Shaggy and Friends", precisely in order to encash donations for the "Shaggy Make a Difference foundation". Guest Stars on these concerts were already Sting, Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, Maxi Priest, Eve, Mr. Vegas, Cocoa Tea, Gyptian, Assassin, I-Octane, Chronixx and many more. The concerts take place in a two-year rhythm. The last concert to date was on January 6th, 2018.
On the homepage of the Shaggy Foundation, www.shaggymakeadifferencefoundation.org , you can also buy tickets or donate. New in 2018: You can buy a "Shaggy & Friends"-shirt on https://raetown.com/collections/shaggy-friends - All proceeds are in aid for the Bustamante Hospital for Kids in Kingston:
Shaggy& Friends lives through us all. Every donation, every Cent is important. So please people out there: Be generous and support the cause. Just because of the fact, that the concerts normally took place at the beginning of january, tickets are a perfect gift for christmas. From time to time, celebreties spend a lot of money to support the Shaggy Foundation. So David Annakie did. He donates 1 Million Dollar in autumn 2015! Or Sean Paul, who gives 10.000 Dollar and Elvis Duran, who spent 25.000 Dollar- both in January 2016.
Shaggy& Friends lives through us all. Every one of us can donate but many people help also in another way. For example the employees of Scotiabank Jamaica. Every year volunteers help the people of the Shaggyfoundation to wrap gifts for the sick children in the Bustamante Hospital. Glowing childrens eyes guaranteed.
More lights on the project were directet in 2012, as Prince Harry, the number 3 of the British throne, paid Jamaica and the Bustamante Hospital a visit. Shaggy of course, was on the spot and explained Harry the details of the project. The global reporting on Shaggy & Friends was more into the limelight. Pictures of this visit can be seen here.
Shaggy and Friends 2018 - a huge success!
On the left, you get impressions from the 2016 Shaggy & Friends concert, with performances from Sting, Agent Sasco, Shaggy, Wyclef Jean, Christopher Martin and many more!
On the right you can see a charity-bottle from 'Wata' - From every bottle with this logo on it, sold in January/February 2016 and in December/January 2018, 'Wata' spent 3$ (Jam.) to the Bustamante Hospital for children!
