Pop culture icon Beyoncé is the queen of many things – including philanthropy. Alesha Dixon is one of the first to praise the superstar, telling HELLO!: "She is consistently nice and just very sweet. I think she is a great example of somebody who has arguably achieved more than most human beings.
"She is at the top of her game, one of the most successful and powerful women in the world but when you meet her, there is a humility and kindness and warmth that exudes from her, and I think that is a really strong lesson for lots of people.
"Because I think there is this assumption that if someone is really successful or very famous, that they are not going to necessarily be kind or they might not be as approachable, but I think she is a wonderful example of somebody who is hugely successful and beautiful and that is quite rare."
"She is consistently nice and just very sweet. When you meet her, there is a humility and kindness and warmth that exudes from her" - Alesha Dixon on Beyonce
Queen Bey has been dedicated to giving back to the community since her Destiny's Child days and one of her biggest charitable legacies to date is setting up the Survivor Foundation with her ex-bandmate Kelly Rowland in 2005.
The foundation was born as an effect of Hurricane Katrina, to provide transitional housing to displaced families and provide a means for new building construction. The foundation has since expanded to work with other charities and also provided relief three years later when Hurricane Ike struck.
She has also teamed up with Salma Hayek and Gucci to launch Chime for Change, which speaks out for gender equality, while also supporting anti-hunger organisations like Feeding America and The Houston Food Bank.
Years later, she established her own organisation, BEYGOOD. During the pandemic, Beyoncé's kindness really shone through with BEYGOOD donating $6 million to provide mental health and personal wellness services to essential workers.
She provided 1,000 free COVID-19 tests in Houston as part of her and her mother Tina Knowles's #IDidMyPart initiative, which was established to particularly support communities of colour. Additionally, 1,000 gloves, masks, hot meals, essential vitamins, grocery vouchers and household items were also donated.
And amid the George Floyd protests in 2020, Beyoncé established the Black-Owned Small Business Impact Fund in partnership with the NAACP, which offers $10,000 grants to Black-owned small businesses.
Two months later, it was announced that the singer had donated an additional $1 million to the fund and by the end of the year, 715 grants had been given out to Black-owned small businesses – the equivalent of $7.15 million donated.
Michelle Obama put it perfectly when she awarded Beyoncé with the 2020 BET Humanitarian Award: "Ever since she was a little girl in Houston, Beyoncé Knowles Carter has been lighting up the stages and gracing the world with her talent, with her generosity of spirit, and with her love for her community.
"You can see it in everything she does, from her music that gives voice to Black joy and Black pain, to her activism that demands justice for Black lives."
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