EXCLUSIVE Madonna is still giving big chunks of money to the controversial Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. In 2016 she donated $250,000 to the cult that has taken millions from her over the last 20 or 30 years.
According to the new Form 990 for Madonna’s Ray of Light Foundation, that was about 1/10th of the total money Madonna made in charitable grants. Altogether she gave away $2 million– way up from previous years.
More than half the total– $1.3 million– went to Raising Malawi, her other foundation. That money went to the building of a children’s hospital in Malawi, Africa– the first time Madonna’s years of traveling to Madonna and adopting children there has actually produced a tangible effect. So that’s good news.
She also gave $250,000 to Creating Hope International in Dearborn, Michigan. Their mission is to “assist local organizations that work at the grass roots level in Afghanistan and India, helping people improve their lives and communities.”
Ray of Light also gave a measly $5,000 to Madonna’s pal Rosie O’Donnell’s important foundation for kids learning theater, and $10,000 to cancer research at the TJ Martell Foundation. She also sent $10,000 to the Community Foundation in Flint, Michigan, which still doesn’t have clean water. As usual, even though her biggest following is in the gay community, Madonna gave zip to AIDS research, etc, nothing to Elton John’s AIDS Foundation or amFAR.
But the $1.3 million for the children’s hospital in Malawi is a big deal, especially after past projects fell through or the money disappeared. So kudos for that.
