MJFC-Suriname goes charity

[Gracielle]

With my Michael Jackson Fan Club Suriname I started giving bags with products to children in need. Last Wednesday was the first day at a home where a woman raises a lot of children all by herself. She has 2 assistents who are doing this without asking for any kind of money. These women are doing this work for a long time with their own finances. It's very hard for them, but they continue taking in children without parents and taking care of them. I'm also sending some pictures of the first day of the project.

This is the article I made for the newspapers (I did my best to translate it the right way, for English is not my first language):

Besides his music, Michael Jackson was also popular because of his love for children and charity. This is why the Michael Jackson Fan Club Suriname decided to continue "Michael’s work".
The goal is to give bags with food products to child care centres and poor children, as much as possible.
MJFC-Suriname is a working partner of the Michael Jackson’S United Nation International Fan Club (MJSUNIFC). The last called organisation has members in almost every country of the world who help keep Michael's music and works alive.

[Gracielle]

This is the article which appeared in the newspapers last Saturday.


Charity on the name of Michael Jackson

Text: Bonnie van Leeuwaarde
Pictures: Stefano Tull/collection Gracielle Hew A Kee

De Ware Tijd 07/11/2009

Gracielle Hew A Kee
is registered as
‘The number One
Michael Jackson Fan from
Suriname’. After his death
she felt she had to
start a fan club.
The goal is to continue not only
his music,but especially his charity work.

Since she was a little girl, she was a fan of the King of Pop. Also when it wasn't 'in' to listen to his music, in the period of the trials, Gracielle still supported her idol. Her room has a lot of posters from idol and she has all of his books, movies and albums. Her mobile ringing tone is Who’s loving you, the love song which he sung with his childly voice. And she also collects a lot of memorabilia, such as T-shirts and buttons with pictures of her star. “Ever since my first day at school, I had speeches about Mihael Jackson. And I spended all of my savings on Michael Jackson-pictures.” Posters and his music she bought at Disco Amigo, and later on she bought other collector items on the internet. On different internet forums she is chatting with fans from the whole world. And this year she came in a magical world when she visited the USA in August. “It seems like you are in MJ-land! Everywhere there were items and crying fans. Today a fan told me she still can't believe he is gone."


Gracielle is not that emotional with the case. From his life she has learned: “If you have a goal in mind, you have to go for it and must not let rumours ruin your dreams. Keep on thinking positively.” So, instead of crying, she started the Michael Jackson Fan Club Suriname on the 10th of October (mjfcsuriname.spaces.live.com). This club works together with the Michael Jackson’s United Nation International Fan Club, which has partners from the whole world to keep the singer his music and work alive. In the Guinness Book of World Record's Year 2000 Millennium Edition Michael Jackson is proclaimed to be the pop star with the most charity work. He sponsered 39 organisations, such as AIDS Project L.A., American Cancer Society, BMI Foundation, Inc, Childhelp USA, United Negro College Fund, The Sickle Cell Research Fund and Volunteers of America. During tours, he also visited hospitals to give presents to children and he gave many sick children the times of their lives on his ranch Neverland.


The Michael Jackson Fan Club Suriname had their first project last week: they gave food products to Child Care Centre Van Gom. The fanclub has 23 members. Ten members gave 5 Surinamese Dollars (SRD). “With ten people you can already buy a good packet of 50 SRD”, the leader says. “I chose for this way in stead of begging for money. Each month we want to give such a packet to another child care centre. And that's why the more members, the more help and the more you can do such projects.”
Every one who is a MJ-fan can become a member. A good reason to become a member: as soon as possible the fanclub will show the movie This is It to the fans. “We will work on helping especially children, because Michael Jackson also loved children. We will remember him as we knew him and do what he liked to do.”

Make the world a better place

Michael Jackson died on the 25th of June 2009, just before the new concerts. The last years he appeared in the media mostly because of the controversial trials, ‘estetic' operations and very exentric lifestyle. Most important is that with his discography he received 13 Grammy Awards, as much as #1-hits, and 750 miljon albums selled. But not known by many is his charity work. The whole list you can find on www.mjfanclub.net. But here is a short listing: he founded the Heal The World Foundation in 1992. This organisation fights against the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable groups in the world: children, old people and animals. In the USA, but also around the world, he cared for vaccination- en drug prevention programs and gave clothes and food in war areas. As a person he donated a lot of goods, such as clothes and teddybears, to auctions, the money was spend on charity projects. In 2004 MJ received the Humanitarian Award from The African Ambassadors' Spouses Association for his work. In Africa he helped with programs to build hospitals, child care centres and schools. By the years he collected and donated money for leukaemia-, cancer- and diabetes reasearches, Unesco, Nelson Mandela's Children's Fund and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. To poor children and little children with a handicap, the super star also donated cards for concerts and amusement parks. He also helped individual children. For example, the 4-year old Michael Fleming, who was thrown from a bridge by his mother, but survived it. MJ paid his hospital costs and established a trust fund. At one of his visits to child care centres and hospitals in Romenia, Taiwan and India, Michael Jackson said: “This is our future –children. I love you all so much.” He promised to work his whole life for them. Now he is gone, others continue to do 'his work'-.