In late February,22-year-old San Diego, California native Cameron Mofid set up a GoFundMe with the hopes of raising $1,000 toward his goals of building a school in Lagos, Nigeria as well as an orphanage in Ghana.
Just a week after the GoFundMe was lauchned, the campaign had over 170 contributors and Mr. Mofid increased his goal to $5,000. Upon arising on a Sunday soonafter the launch of the fundrasier, he saw a $45,000 doantion from Kyrie Irving..yes that Kyrie Irving.
Mofid told the Dallas Morning News, “I actually thought it was a mistake or a scam, like spam mail.”
The completion of some internet searching revealed to Mofid that the NBA star has been contributing to GoFundMe projects that resonated with him.
“It’s really amazing,” Mofid said. “I haven’t slept much because we’ve been figuring out all of our new plans. Initially we had just raised enough money to buy backpacks and to buy the land for the new orphanage.
Mofid, said he sent a thank-you message to the e-mail address attached to Irving’s donation, but he is unsure if the All-Star will see it. “I’d just like to figure out a way to thank him,” Mofid said. “Just so he understands what an impact he’s made.”
“His donation single-handedly will build the entire orphanage in Ghana. It will buy a water tank for the kids in Nigeria. They live in a village with little access to clean drinking water. And so we’ll be able to buy a water tank; we’ll be able to buy shoes for all the kids. And books.
“And we will build a new basketball court in [Irving’s] honor.”
Cameron Mofid
Irving has this to say of his donations:
“The philanthropic things I’m most excited about is continuing my GoFundMe of just dropping in onto people’s pages and just helping out humanity as best I can,” he said. “The purpose here on Earth is bigger than me, so I have to selflessly pursue things that may not interest everyone else.
“I just love to be there because people were there for me. I grew up with a large family and village that helped me every step of the way, all walks of life, and whenever I had questions, they would be there to answer, and they taught me how to really selflessly serve a community.
“You do it every day. Small acts of kindness go a long way, so if you can move an inch and then continue to work towards your goal, just imagine what you look like a year from now after putting an inch in every single day.”
As of the writing of this article GoFundMe has raised $65,321
