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Colin Kaepernick to donate $10,000 to Philadelphia's Youth Service Inc., Meek Mill to match

Colin Kaepernick is teaming with Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill to donate to a local organization.

From left, the San Francisco 49ers' Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid kneel during the national anthem before their NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 2, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
From left, the San Francisco 49ers' Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid kneel during the national anthem before their NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 2, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.Read moreNhat V. Meyer
    by Bethany Ao
    Published 

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick uploaded a video on Twitter this morning, pledging $10,000 to Philadelphia's Youth Service Inc., a nonprofit that provides shelter and support to children, youth and families. Rapper Meek Mill, who is currently serving two to four years in prison for probation violations, will match Kaepernick's donation.

This donation is part of Kaepernick's Million Dollar Pledge, in which he vowed to donate $1 million and all proceeds from his jersey sales in 2016 over 10 months to organizations working in oppressed communities. Kaepernick is down to the last $100,000 and has asked 10 of his friends to help select organizations for donations. Past organizations that have received donations from the athlete include the Black Veterans for Social Justice in Brooklyn, the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York and the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Youth Service, Inc. offers the only city's only Crisis Nursery Programs and the area's largest shelter for homeless and runaway teens. They reach more than 5,000 clients annually.

"All credit goes to Meek Mill for this," Gwendolyn Bailey, the executive director of Youth Service, Inc., said. "He never forgets the people of Philly. When we found out that we were selected by Colin, we were bouncing off the walls with joy."

Bailey said the donations will allow them to help more young homeless people by providing them with transportation to and from work, as well as haircuts and new clothing for interviews.

"When we were first told that Meek was going to nominate us, my thought was that there was a one in a million chance of us getting chosen," Bailey said. "So we're pretty ecstatic."