Michael Jackson’s humanitarian work; a thread
January 31, 1971: The Jackson 5 returned to their home county, Gary, Indiana, to play two benefit concerts for Mayor Richard G. Hatcher’s re-election campaign at Westside High School. A ceremony was held outside their former home at 2300 Jackson Street.
1972: The Jackson 5 and The Supremes were the headliners performing a benefit concert, the first annual 'Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Concert' in Atlanta, Georgia, helping to raise the start-up funds for the "Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change" in Atlanta.
November 18, 1972: Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 performed at an NAACP fund-raising dinner at Hollywood Palladium, California, at the 6th annual Black Image Awards.
December 23, 1972: In Los Angeles, California, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, dressed as Santas, made an appearance at a Christmas party held at the Pacific Townclub, to visit and offer presents - on behalf of their record company, Motown - to 700 underprivileged children.
December 24, 1972: The Jackson 5 performed Christmas songs during a benefit concert at the "Foundation for the Junior Blind" in Los Angeles, California, for 1000 visually impaired children, 400 of which attending the benefit party.
March 7, 1973: Michael Jackson visited the bedside of 6-year old Leslie Robinette, who was suffering from aplastic anemia caused by the genetic disease fanconi anemia - at the Seattle Children’s Hospital - then The Children's Orthopedic Hospital and Medical Center.
August 16, 1973: Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 performed at a benefit gig at St. Paul Civic Center Arena in Minnesota, with proceeds of the concert being funneled to the Afro-American Music Opportunities Association (AAMOA).
May 17, 1977: The Jacksons flew to Glasgow, Scotland for a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, with proceeds of the show going to the Silver Jubilee Fund.
January, 1979: Michael Jackson donated a number of books, including J.M Barrie's "Peter Pan", to the "Chicago Public Library’s Young Adult Section", and, on occasion of a library project, "Boogie To The Book Beat", he delivers a speech on the importance of reading.
1979: "The Black Linkage For Adoptive Children" hosted a charity event during which the Jackson’s costumes from their 1979 Destiny Tour were auditioned off to the highest bidder; Michael Jackson’s costume garnered 575,00 dollars.
1980: Michael Jackson performed the song “Rock With You” at “Because We Care”, a UNICEF Charity Gala held at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
July, 1981: The Jacksons gave a special benefit concert at the Omni Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia, which raised $100,000 for the ‘Atlanta Children's Foundation’ in response to a series of kidnappings and murders that had been plaguing the children of Atlanta for months.
January 10, 1984: During the filming of a Pepsi commercial, Michael suffered severe burns to his scalp when the pyrotechnics went awry. As a result of the on-set accident, he was admitted to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California.
Despite having second and third-degree burns to the back of his head, Michael visited several other burn patients and later donated a hyperbaric chamber to the hospital, in addition to making a substantial donation towards preparing and equipping the Michael Jackson Burn Center.
April 9, 1984: David Smithee, a 14-year-old cystic fibrosis sufferer, was invited to Michael’s Encino family home through the auspices of the ‘Brass Ring Society’. They both shared an enjoyable afternoon watching movies, eating lunch and playing video games.
Before leaving, David was treated to a black sequined glove and Michael’s red leather jacket from the ‘Beat It’ music video. Seven weeks later, he passed away, but not without having had his last wish granted.
April 14, 1984: Michael equipped a 19-bed-unit at the ‘Mount Sinai New York Medical Center’. This centre is part of the T.J. Martell-Foundation for leukemia and cancer research.
May, 1984: Michael donated the use of his song ‘Beat It’ to a national advertising campaign against drinking whilst driving. For his contribution, he received a Special Achievement Award which was presented by President Ronald Reagan.
July 5, 1984: Michael Jackson held a press conference about the ticket distribution system for the ‘Victory Tour’.
Three charities benefited from Michael’s generosity: ‘Camp Good Times’ for terminally ill children, the ‘T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia and Cancer Research’, and ‘The United Negro College Fund’ which went on to establish the ‘Michael Jackson Scholarship Fund’.
July 21-23, 1984: The Jacksons entertained eight children suffering from incurable diseases. 14-year-old Malanda Cooper, a young victim who had only a short time to live, wrote to the Mayor asking to meet Michael. He subsequently met her backstage prior to a performance.
July 14, 1984: The Jacksons performed at Texas Stadium in Dallas, and donated 1200 tickets valued at $39,000 to underprivileged children.
August, 1984: As negotiations for a performance in Gary, Indiana broke down, the Jacksons transported forty children from the ‘Thelma Marshall Children's Home’, ‘The Hoosier Boys Home’ and the ‘Donzels Work Study Program’ to Detroit, Michigan for the third performance there.
December 13, 1984: Michael visited the Brotman Memorial Hospital, where he had been treated when he was seriously burned during the producing of a Pepsi commercial. He donated all the money he received from Pepsi, $1.5 million, to the Michael Jackson Burn Center for children.
January 28, 1985: Michael Jackson was one of the first artists to arrive at ‘A&M Lion Share Studios’ for the now historic recording which brought dozens of nationally acclaimed artists together in the hope of alleviating famine in Africa.
The largest-grossing single in the history of the recording arts, ‘We Are The World’, was recorded, spawning a videocassette and a book, all the proceeds of which were put towards famine relief efforts. $60 million dollars were donated directly to the countries affected.
1986: Michael set up the "Michael Jackson UNCF Endowed Scholarship Fund". This $1.5 million fund aimed to help students majoring in performance art and communications, with money given each year to students attending a UNCF member college or university.
February 28, 1986: After having had a heart-transplant, 14-year-old Donna Ashlock from California got a call from Michael. He had heard that she was a big fan of his and told her that she had an invite to his home as soon as she was feeling better.
This visit took place on March 8th. Donna stayed for dinner, chatted and watched a movie with Michael.
October, 1986: ‘Michael's Pets’, a line of stuffed animals which were all modelled after Michael Jackson's pet menagerie, were released onto the market. Michael requested that one dollar from each purchase be donated to a children's charity.
September 13, 1987: Michael supported the efforts of the NAACP, to fight prejudice against black artists.
September, 1987: Michael donated $20,000 to the family of a young Japanese boy, Yoshiyaki, who had been recently kidnapped and killed. News footage at the time showed a highly emotional Michael Jackson addressing the incident.
October 1987: At the end of his ‘Bad Tour’, Michael donated some of his personal items to UNESCO for a charity auction. The proceeds went towards the education of children in developing countries. Among the items were sunglasses, t-shirts and a windbreaker.
November, 1987: Michael donated £10,000 pounds to the ‘Children in Need’ appeal in Great Britain.
November, 1987: Michael visited a children's hospital while on tour in Australia.
February 1, 1988: The Song "Man In the Mirror" entered the pop charts. The proceeds from the sales of this record went to ‘Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times’, a camp for children who suffer from cancer.
March 1, 1988: Michael performed at Madison Square Gardens. The first of three concerts was a benefit for the United Negro College Fund. He presented a cheque for $600,000 to Christopher Edley, UNCF President, making him one of the UNCF's largest contributors.
April 13-15, 1988: Free tickets were given away for three concerts in Atlanta, Georgia to the ‘Make A Wish Foundation’.
May 22, 1988: Michael visited children who suffer from cancer in the ‘Bambini-Gesu Children's Hospital’ in Rome. He signed autographs and gave away sweets and records to the children, before pledging a cheque to the hospital for £100,000 pounds.
May 23, 1988: It was announced that 4,000 tickets from Michael Jackson's concerts in Britain would be donated to ‘ITV Telethon’ which went on to raise £200,000 pounds for ‘Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital’.
June, 1988: A music celebrity auction benefiting the ‘T. J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research’ boasted a black fedora signed by Michael Jackson. It sold for over $4,000.
July 16, 1988: Before a concert at Wembley Stadium in London, Michael met Diana, the Princess of Wales. He handed over a cheque for £450,000 pounds (£150,000 for the Prince's Trust, and £300,000 pounds for the children's hospital at Great Ormond Street).
July 20, 1988: Michael visited terminally ill children at Great Ormond Street Hospital. At a unit for less critical patients he stayed a little longer and told the children a story.
August 29, 1988: On his 30th birthday Michael performed a concert in Leeds, England for the charity "Give For Life", which helps to immunise children. Michael presented a cheque for £65,000 pounds which contributed towards helping immunise 40,000 children.
October, 1988: Michael presented a cheque for $125,000 to Esther Edwards and Berry Gordy for the maintenance and upkeep of Hittsville, USA (Motown's Museum in Detroit, Michigan). He also contributed a black fedora, a white beaded glove and costume from the Motown era for display.
December 1988: Michael visited 12-year-old David Rothenburg. Five years previously, David’s father had doused him in kerosene and set him alight in an act of revenge against his former wife.
January 1989: The proceeds of one of Michael's shows in Los Angeles were donated to ‘Childhelp USA’, the largest US charity against child-abuse. In appreciation, ‘Childhelp of Southern California’ founded the "Michael Jackson International Institute for Research On Child Abuse".
January 10, 1989: The ‘Bad Tour’ was coming to an end. Under-privileged children were given tickets for each concert and Michael donated money to hospitals, orphanages and charitable organisations.
Every night the kids would come in on stretchers, so sick they could hardly hold their heads up. Michael would kneel down at the stretchers and put his face right down beside theirs so that he could have a picture taken with them, and then give them a copy to remember the moment.
February 7, 1989: Michael visited the ‘Cleveland Elementary School’ in Stockton, California. Some weeks earlier, a 25-year-old man had open-fired in the school's playground, resulting in the death of five children and the wounding of 39 others.
March 5, 1989: Michael invited 200 deprived children of the ‘St. Vincent Institute for Handicapped Children’ and the organisation ‘Big Brothers and Big Sisters’ to the Circus Vargas in Santa Barbara. After this event he invited them to his Neverland ranch with its private zoo.
November 11, 1989: The organisation "Wish Is Granted" enabled 4-year-old Darian Pagan, a leukemia sufferer, to meet Michael. Michael invited the child to a performance put on by Canadian acrobats.
December 28, 1989: Ryan White, who suffered from haemophilia, spent his vacation at Neverland ranch. Ryan had been infected with AIDS in 1984 by a contaminated blood transfusion. After he was excluded from school, Ryan fought against the discrimination endured by AIDS victims.
January 6, 1990: Through the charity ‘Childhelp’, Michael invited 82 abused and neglected children to his Neverland Ranch where they enjoyed games, a barbeque and a movie in Michael’s private theatre.
February, 1990: Michael performed at a musical variety special in honour of Sammy Davis, Jr. Proceeds from the special, $250,000, were donated to the United Negro College Fund.
May, 1990: ‘Make A Wish Foundation’ arranged for 14-year-old John Brown, a young cancer victim, to visit Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
August 18, 1990: Michael invited 130 children from the YMCA summer program of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara to his Neverland Ranch. They enjoy a barbecue, play video games, visit his zoo and watch movies. Each child took home a free pair of sneakers.
October, 1990: Michael threw a party for eighty abused and/or neglected children from the ‘Village of Childhelp’ in Beaumont, California. Later he hosted fifty children from Maclaren Hall and the ‘Make a Wish Foundation’ at his home in California.
May 6, 1991: Michael was invited to a Jane Goodall charity event. Goodall had been an advocate of behavioural research concerning chimpanzees in Gombe, Nigeria for more than 30 years, and Michael supported her work.
July 26, 1991: Michael paid a visit to the ‘Youth Sports & Art Foundation’ in Los Angeles. The Foundation supports families of gang members, and helps with issues such as drug abuse. Michael talked to the children and presented them with a widescreen TV set and a financial gift.
December 1991: Michael's company, MJJ Productions, treated deprived families in Los Angeles with more than 200 turkey dinners.
February 11-18, 1992: Over the course of 8 days Michael covered 30,000 miles of the African continent, (covering Gabon, The Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Kenya and Libreville), where he visited medical centres, churches, schools and educational charities for disabled children.
May 6, 1992: Michael paid for a young boy's funeral who had been killed by a stray bullet during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, California.
June 23, 1992: At a press conference in London, Michael made an announcement about his ‘Heal The World Foundation’, speaking of its mission, and aims.
June 29, 1992: Michael visited the ‘Sophia Children's Hospital’ in Rotterdam and presented a cheque for £100,000 pounds.
July 25, 1992: Whilst on tour in Dublin, Ireland, Michael announced that he would give £400,000 pounds from his tour earnings to various charities.
July 29, 1992: Michael visited the ‘Queen Elizabeth Children's Hospital’ in London. To surprise the children, he was accompanied by Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse from Euro Disney.
July 31, 1992: On the eve of his second concert at Wembley Stadium, Michael presented Prince Charles with a cheque for £200,000 pounds for ‘The Prince's Trust’.
August, 1992: The first ‘Heal The World European Children's Congress’ met in London, England. Eighty-four children between the ages of 8 and 16 came together to express their views on the world's biggest problems and what they saw as the solutions.
September, 1992: Michael donated 1 million pesetas to a charity headed by the Queen of Spain.
September 30, 1992: President Iliescu of Romania inaugurated a playground for 500 orphans which Michael had financed. Michael discussed his ‘Heal The World Foundation’ whilst there.
November 24, 1992: At Kennedy Airport in New York, Michael supervised the loading of 47 tons of medication, blankets, and winter clothes destined for Sarajevo. The ‘Heal The World Foundation’ collaborated with ‘AmeriCares’ to take resources totalling $2.1 million to Sarajevo.
December 10, 1992: During a press conference at the US Consulate in Tokyo, Michael was presented with a cheque for $100,000 for the ‘Heal The World Foundation’ by his tour sponsor, Pepsi.
January 19, 1993: Michael was one of the stars that performed at the Presidential Inauguration of Bill Clinton. Before he sang ‘Gone Too Soon’ he drew attention to the plight of AIDS victims and mentioned his late friend Ryan White.
January 26, 1993: At a press conference held at Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, Michael was presented with a $100,000 donation each from the ‘National Football League’ and Frito Lay,  the sponsors of the Super Bowl.
February 1993: In association with Sega, Michael launched an initiative to distribute more than $108,000 worth of computer games and equipment to children's hospitals, children's homes, and children's charities throughout the U.K.
April 26, 1993: Whilst on his ‘Heal LA’ tour, Michael made an unannounced visit to three ‘Heal L.A’. project sites in order to participate in discussions with recipients and providers of the immunisation, mentoring, and drug abuse prevention programs.
June 1993: Michael announced that he would donate $1.25 million for children who had suffered as a result of the riots in Los Angeles.
June 1993: Michael hosted 100 children from the Los Angeles ‘Challengers Boys and Girls Club’ at his Neverland Ranch.
June 10, 1993: Michael attended a rally in Los Angeles to launch a new DARE program, called ‘DAREPLUS’ (Drug Abuse Resistance Education - Play and Learn Under Supervision). The purpose of the program was to inform children about the dangers of drug abuse.
June 18, 1993: Michael paid a visit to a hospital in Washington and spent several hours with the young patients, playing chess with some and chatting with others.
August 1993: Along with Pepsi-Cola Thailand, Michael donated $40,000 to Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's charity, the ‘Rural School Children and Youth Development Fund’, in support of school lunch programs in rural villages in Thailand.
August 1993: It was announced that the proceeds of Michael’s forthcoming concerts in New Delhi, India would be directed to the ‘Ghandi Foundation for Children’. Pepsi guaranteed $160,000 from the two shows, which never happened since the tour was cancelled beforehand.
August 1993: In Tel Aviv, Israel on a tour stop, Michael visited a children's hospital, distributed toys and talked with the children.
September 1993: While in Japan, Michael visited a school at a US naval base. During this visit, he also met with 15-year-old fan, Martijn Hendricsen. The terminally ill Dutch fan, undergoing treatment was flown to Japan in response to a request by the ‘Make A Wish Foundation’.
October 1993: Michael donated $100,000 to the ‘Children's Defense Fund’, the ‘Children's Diabetes Foundation’, the ‘Atlanta Project’, and the ‘Boys and Girl Clubs’ of Newark, New Jersey to further the provision of health services to children.
October 1993: ‘Heal the World’ along with ‘Pepsi-Cola International’ donated new ambulances to Moscow's ‘Contacts One Independent Living Center for Children’ in Moscow, Russia and the ‘Hospital de Ninos Dr. Ricardo Gutierrez’ in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
October 1993: Whilst in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Michael meets with young cancer victim, Sophie Jones, who said later that her meeting with Michael, with whom she exchanged gifts, was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
October 1993: Whilst in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Michael donated thousands of tickets to his concerts there to ill, needy and disadvantaged children. He did the same in Rio.
October 22, 1993: Michael visited a hospital in Santiago, Chile.
October 28, 1993: Michael made it possible for 5000 underprivileged children to visit the ‘Reino Aventura Park’, where the whale Keiko (as featured in the film, ‘Free Willy’) was living.
November 5, 1993: Michael was a guest at a children's party at the ‘Hard Rock Café’ in Mexico City.
December, 1993: ‘Heal the World’, together with the ‘Gorbachev Foundation’, USA airlifted 60,000 children's vaccines to Tblisi, in the Republic of Georgia.
December 16, 1993: ‘The Heal The World Foundation’ in the U.K. supported ‘Operation Christmas Child’ in delivering toys, sweets, gifts and food to children in former Yugoslavia.
1994: Michael donated $500,000 to Elizabeth Taylor's AIDS Foundation.
January, 1994: On the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Michael gave a party for more than 100 underprivileged children at his Neverland Ranch. The children were from the ‘Community Youth Sports and Arts Foundation’ in Los Angeles.
Michael spent the day playing with the children, posing for photographs and signing autographs. The children watched Beethoven's 2nd, played in the amusement park and checked out the zoo.
January, 1994: ‘Heal the World’ and the ‘Los Angeles Immunisation Coalition’ provided vaccines to children made homeless by the Los Angeles earthquake. ‘Heal the World’ along with ‘Discovery Toys’ also donated toys to the children participating in the immunisation drive.
Over $85,000 from ‘Heal L.A’. was put towards earthquake relief efforts through grants to non-profit organisations dedicated to aiding families needing long-term recovery in the Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley areas.
January, 1994: ‘Heal the World’ in association with ‘General Electric’, ‘Lever Brothers’, and ‘Surf Wash’ donated washers, dryers and soap to 25 non-profit organisations in order to provide free laundry services to families affected by the Los Angeles earthquake.
January, 1994: ‘Heal The World’, and ‘Heal L.A’. along with the ‘Salvation Army’ treated over 400 homeless children and parents living in shelters to a day at Universal Studios.
February 19, 1994: ‘The Jackson Family Honors’ event was held at the MGM Grand Hotel's Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The substantial earnings from the show were given to various charities.
July, 1994: ‘Heal The World’ in conjunction with the ‘Los Angeles Unified School District’, the ‘I Have A Dream Foundation’, Best Buddies, and Overcoming Obstacles provided 2000 children with tickets to see Janet Jackson, the L.A. Laker Jam, and The Beach Boys in concert.
August 6, 1994: Michael and Lisa Marie visited two children's hospitals in Budapest, Hungary, to chat with the ill children and to distribute toys. Whilst at Bethesda Children’s Hospital, Michael met 4-year-old Bela Farkas, who was in desperate need of a liver transplant.
‘Heal the World’ funds were pledged to save this little boy, as Michael vowed to find him a liver.
August, 1994: In association with ‘Toys 'R Us’ and ‘AmeriCares’, Michael’s ‘HTWF’ distributed $20,000 worth of toys, food, and supplies to a children's hospital in Budapest, Hungary.
September, 1994: ‘Heal L.A.’ funded the implementation of the ‘Los Angeles Team Mentoring Program’ in six Los Angeles schools in Los Angeles’ South Central district and the Pico Union district, reaching over 1000 young people.
1995: Michael wanted to free dolphins that had been locked up for years. He believed that there should be legal guidelines drawn up regarding the way dolphins have to live in zoos and parks.
February 1995: Michael privately requested permission to attend the funeral of Craig Fleming, a two-year old boy whose mother threw him over the side of a Los Angeles bridge along with his four-year-old brother, before jumping to her own death.
The mother and four-year-old survived the incident, although the child, Michael, was badly battered, requiring medical aid. Michael presented a contribution towards Michael Fleming's medical expenses and founded a special trust fund for Michael's care.
March 1995: Bela Farkas finally received a new liver. The ‘Heal The World Foundation’ covered the surgery and all aftercare costs.
April 1995: ‘Heal The World’, ‘Permanent Charities’ and ‘EC2000’ sponsored 46 children from 17 countries to gather at Michael’s Neverland home for the ‘World Children's Congress’, a three-day seminar and leadership training in which critical children's issues were discussed.
December 1995: ‘HTWF’ in association with the ‘International Rescue Committee’, shipped two pallets of toys to children in war-torn Bosnia and Hercegovina.
May 28, 1996: Michael sent a floral tribute of white roses, carnations and lilies to the funeral of one of his British fans. The inscription read, "May your courage be an inspiration to us all. Your spirit shines on. Love, Michael Jackson."
June 1996: A donated trip to Neverland Ranch received the highest bid at a ‘Cities in School’ celebrity auction. Los Angeles based ‘KIIS-FM’ and ‘Cities in School’ organised the event, raising over $115,000 to benefit school children.
July 18, 1996: In Soweto, South Africa Michael laid a wreath of flowers for youngsters who were killed during the fights involving Apartheid.
September 1996: A sports festival - ‘Hope’ - was held for the first time, and on behalf of orphans and disadvantaged children. 3000 children and 600 volunteers took part in the sports festival where Michael Jackson was a special guest.
September 1996: Michael visited an orphanage in Bucharest, Romania prior to his concert. After handing out toys, Michael said "I wish all the world was here to see this, instead of sending our brothers to the killing fields. This is our future - children. I love you all so much."
September 6, 1996: Michael visited the children's unit of a hospital in Prague.
October 1996: Michael visited a hospital for mentally challenged children in Kaoshiung, Taiwan and offered 2,000 free tickets to the sold out performance there.
October 1, 1996: Michael donated the proceeds of his Tunisia concert to ‘The National Solidarity Fund’, a charity dedicated to fighting poverty.
October 3, 1996: Michael visited a children's hospital, ‘Ronald McDonald House’ and ‘AMC’ and brought small gifts for the patients during a ‘HIStory’ tour visit in Amsterdam. A room in the hospital (for parents who want to be with their children) was named after Michael.
November 1, 1996: In Bombay, India, 85% of the proceeds from one concert were put aside for the ‘Shiv Udyog Sena’ to help create jobs for 270,000 young people in the state of Maharashtra, of which Bombay is the capital.
Upon arriving in Bombay, Michael asked his driver to stop the motorcade transporting him from the airport to his hotel to allow him to spend 20 minutes talking, dancing and playing with children from the crowded slums he passed en route to his hotel.
November 4, 1996: In Bangkok, Thailand, Michael Jackson was shown visiting an orphanage and a school for blind children. At the orphanage, he left a donation of $100,000 dollars as well as distributing toys and gifts to children at both the orphanage and school for the blind.
November 13, 1996: Michael visited a children's hospital in Sydney prior to being publicly feted by ‘Sony Music’ honouring his sales (exceeding $75 million in Australia) at a reception held in his honour at the Opera House.
November 17, 1996: During scheduled tour stops in Brisbane, Australia, Michael visited the ‘Prince of Wales Hospital’ which houses children suffering from assorted ailments, including cancer, heart trouble, asthma and tumours.
November 25, 1996: Michael visited the ‘Royal Children's Hospital’ in Melbourne, delivering toys to, and signing autographs for the children.
December 7, 1996: During a ‘HIStory’ tour stop in Manila, Michael visited a children's hospital. He announced that a part of his concert earnings would be donated to the renovation of the hospital.
January 25, 1997: Michael waived his personal fee for his Bombay appearance and donated $1.1 million to a local charity helping to educate children living in slums.
April 4, 1997: British magazine ‘OK!’ published exclusive photos of Michael's son Prince. The magazine pays about £1 million pounds for the photos. Michael donated the money to charity.
June 18, 1997: While in Germany, Michael signed the ‘Children in Need’ book, which was later auctioned by and for the charity ‘UNESCO’.
May 17, 1998: Michael joined African leaders in Namibia in a call for debt relief, urging for a new era for the world's poorest region, especially the children.
Michael told the annual ‘Southern African Economic Forum’ summit in Windhoek on that he would donate funds to make the world a better place for its children.
September 1998: Michael met 5 year old Aza Woods, a cancer sufferer, at the ‘Hilton Hotel’ in Las Vegas. Michael invited Aza to spend some time with him at his Neverland Ranch.
June 1999: ‘Michael Jackson and Friends’ concerts in Korea and Germany raised $3.3 million dollars for the humanitarian agencies ‘UNESCO’, ‘Nelson Mandela's Children's Fund’ and the ‘International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’.
August 1999: Michael was invited to speak to a school in Chicago about bullying, alcohol abuse and self image awareness.
September 4, 1999: Michael presented Nelson Mandela with a cheque for 1,000,000 South African rand for the ‘Nelson Mandela Children's Fund’.
January 22, 2000: During Christmas of 1999 a violent storm ravaged the park ‘Chateau de Versailles’ in France, and destroyed 10,000 trees. The estimated cost for rebuilding the park was around $20 million. Michael Jackson supported the restoration of the park.
January 2000: ‘The United Negro College Fund's ‘Evening Of Stars’ January 15th telethon fundraiser raised $13.5 million in cash and pledges. Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston, and Barry White were among the performers.
May 2000: Michael donated items to 4th annual online auction for the ‘T. J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research’.
May 2000: Michael escorted Elizabeth Taylor to the gala tribute in her honour at the ‘Royal Albert Hall’ in London. Proceeds from this tribute benefited the ‘Red Hot Aids Charitable Trust’ and the ‘Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation’.
October 28, 2000: Michael painted a plate to be auctioned for the ‘Carousel of Hope Ball’ benefiting childhood diabetes research.
October 2000: Michael donated one of his fedoras, which he autographed, and a limited-edition poster for an auction at the annual gala of the ‘African Ambassadors' Spouses Association’ in order to help raise money to fight childhood AIDS in Africa.
December 2000: Michael and Whitney both appeared on stage at the ‘Miracle On 34th Street’, a charity concert organised by radio station ‘KTU 103.5 FM’ at Madison Square Garden in New York, USA.
March 6, 2001: Michael donated a black hat, a birthday phone-call and a jacket worn at the ‘Monaco Music Awards’ in 2000 to the ‘Movie Action for Children’ auction, by ‘UNICEF’ with all proceeds going to UNICEF's efforts to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa.
March 25, 2001: Michael handed out books to young people at a Newark, NJ theatre. The event, which helped to launch the ‘Michael Jackson International Book Club’, aimed to promote childhood reading and to encourage parents to return to reading bedtime stories.
October 21, 2001: Michael led a benefit concert ‘United We Stand: What More Can I Give’ at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The concert was the third major concert held in tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks.
April 24, 2002: Michael performed at a fundraiser for the ‘Democratic National Committee’ at the ‘Apollo Theater’ in Harlem, helping to raise nearly $3 million dollars towards voter registration.
August, 2002: Michael donated 16 exclusively autographed items consisting of CD's, videos and 2 cotton napkins to aid in the support of the victims of a severe flood in Germany. These items were auctioned off for charity and managed to raise 3935 Euros.
October 12, 2002: Michael invited more than 200 ‘Team Vandenberg’ members, who had recently returned from overseas deployments, and their families to his Neverland Ranch. This was to show his appreciation for the sacrifices made by the military in his community.
November 20, 2002: Michael donated a jacket to the ‘The Bambi Charity Event’ in Berlin which raised $16,000 for homeless children in Germany.
June 2003: The Wolf family, who experienced serious damages to their belongings during the flood in Saxony, Germany in August of 2002, spent three days at Neverland, meeting Michael and his children.
September 13, 2003: Michael hosted a charity event at Neverland. Only 400 tickets were available to purchase. Ticket price at pre-sale was $725, with proceeds going to charity. Among those in attendance were Aaron and Nick Carter, Mike Tyson, Pink, and Boys II Men, to name a few.
October 27, 2003: Michael premiered the short film for his latest charity single titled ‘What More Can I Give’ in the conference area of the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the evening, Michael Jackson received the Radio Music Awards' first Humanitarian Award. The award was presented to him by Beyoncé. She was among a number of artists who participated in Michael's charity single, ‘What More Can I Give’.
November 9, 2003: Michael Jackson donated painted shoes for charity. A shoe manufacturer named Tatami had the idea to create a charity titled "Shoes For Charity" for children suffering from traumas.
April 1, 2004: Michael received the Humanitarian Award from The African Ambassadors' Spouses Association (AASA) for his worldwide humanitarian efforts, particularly in Africa.
Michael financially supported programs in Africa to build and equip hospitals, orphanages, homes, and schools and financially supported programs for Child immunization, HIV-AIDS, Education, and Apartheid.
March 14, 2007: Michael gave complimentary tickets to orphans, handicapped and physically-challenged people so that they could attend a ‘Fan Appreciation’ event in Tokyo. At the event, Michael went onto the balcony to greet them all.
May 29, 2007: Michael persuaded an auction house in Las Vegas to donate a portion of its profits by auctioning off lots of memorabilia from the Jackson family to charity.
This is just a brief insight into 40 years of charitable activities up to May 2007. Of course, there are many more charitable acts that undertook after this time, and far too many to add to my list.
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