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Francesca Gariano April 17, 2022

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Chance the Rapper is giving back to celebrate his 29th birthday.

Rather than being the one to accept gifts, Chance announced in an Instagram post on Saturday, April 16 that in his hometown of Chicago, he would be donating 1,500 free meals to the community through his nonprofit organization, SocialWorks, ahead of the Easter holiday.

The beloved rapper shared a nearly five-minute video on Instagram which documented the drive-up giveaway. In addition to giving away delicious meals, volunteers were handing out cups of “Mint Chocolate Chance,” an ice cream flavor that the rapper developed in collaboration with Ben & Jerry’s.

“Happening now Chicago! Holiday Meal Giveaway 8560 S. Cottage Grove. 1,500 free meals for the community,” Chance wrote on Instagram with a video of the event.

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“Happening now Chicago! Holiday Meal Giveaway 8560 S. Cottage Grove,” he wrote in the video’s caption. “1,500 free meals for the community @socialworks_chi @benandjerrys #SocialWorks #HelpPeople.”

Earlier in the day, Chance shared a series of three throwback photos from his childhood on Instagram to mark his birthday as well. In the photographs, a younger version of the rapper could be seen posing with his mom Lisa Bennett and brother Taylor.

“He’s 29,” he wrote. “Best gift u can get me is showing someone they’re a child of God today.”

Chance has long been involved in activism and giving back, especially in his native Chicago. In 2020, TODAY’s Carson Daly sat down virtually with the rapper to talk about where he found the inspiration and drive to be an activist and how he is aiming to give back to young artists in Chicago through SocialWorks.

“I think it’s indirectly my faith,” Chance told Carson about his inspiration to do and act on his beliefs. “I get a lot of my sense of understanding and kindness from my mom. And then my dad and his side of the family were all community organizers. My great grandmother marched with [Dr. Martin Luther] King and organized. My grandmother worked for Harold Washington when he ran for mayor of Chicago.”

In an extended interview that aired last year, Chance discussed SocialWorks in more detail, telling Carson about several of the projects the organization has been able to execute over the years.

“We try and stay involved and working,” he said. “We’ve been able to do some really dope stuff in the city…We did My State of Mind, which we compiled a list of all of the mental health facilities, private and government owned that were in the state of Illinois and worked with the state and the local governments to make it all accessible for people. We did the New Chance Fund, where I donated $2 million to CPS and raised over $7 million since then.”