Since gathering the money through his Shaggy & Friends Benefit Concert to help the hospital buy the necessary equipment to aid the country’s kids, Shaggy has donated $100 million to the Bustamante Hospital for Children. This donation was made roughly five years ago.
The action followed a heated argument between Shaggy and hospital authorities when the latter seemed to modify the intended use of the cash. Shaggy refused to provide the money to the hospital since it was intended to be used to buy specialized equipment and beds.
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According to The Jamaica Gleaner, Shaggy presented the money, which will enable renovations and support several activities.
The action was taken in response to resolute attempts by hospital administrators who had previously hinted that the artist could have either mishandled or refused to give the money.
Shaggy, however, addressed the core disagreement last year, notably the fact that Shaggy’s Make a Difference Foundation has never in its existence contributed cash or money to any charity. As an alternative, the charity gathered funds, made the necessary purchases, and then donated the equipment to the charity in need.
“We never hand over money to anybody. If you look at the model of Shaggy & Friends we do not hand over money, we always buy equipment, and if there are repairs we do repairs,” he stated.
The hospital constructed the lab, and the foundation took on the responsibility of supplying the facility, as an example of prior assistance that Shaggy provided to Bustamante.
Shaggy stated that before the Foundation delivered the funding, he was waiting for the hospital to complete a number of tasks, including completing a budget, submitting a design, and outsourcing a contractor at a reasonable price.
The Foundation intended to construct a completely new institution, but there was no available land. They discussed a strategy for creating a ward after that, according to Shaggy. However, Shaggy claimed that the Charities Act forbade the money from being used for any other objective than that for which it was raised, preventing his Foundation from executing its plan.
Later, it was decided to upgrade and add seven specialist beds to the current ward. The ward will be larger because it presently only has five beds, and it will contain a lounge, waiting room, and new pharmacy.
Shaggy has taken a lot of heat from members of civil society who criticized the artist for delaying the money’s release to the hospital. However, others defended the artist by pointing out that government organizations were rife with corruption and that money was frequently missing or taken off of projects. Although many Jamaicans believed the artist was correct to make sure all safety precautions were in place, there has been no evidence that any corruption occurred throughout the execution of this endeavor between Shaggy and hospital officials.
Shaggy stated in his interview from the previous year that over ten years prior to establishing his foundation, he had been giving money and distributing checks to deserving families. But when he encountered a juvenile girl with a gunshot wound to the head, he understood that, given Jamaica’s high crime and violence rates, handing her parents a check was just a temporary fix and that a better facility may be built to assist future children.
Shaggy’s buddies Sting, Wyclef Jean, and Doug E. Fresh performed on the previous Shaggy & Friends.
Shaggy, who addressed the “character assassination” that occurred over the years, noted that his “friends,” who included a wide range of corporate sponsors, were disappointed by the manner Bustamante hospitals conducted themselves over the funds from the charity. As a result, the concert might never be staged again.
