Icon and Portsmouth native Missy Elliot gave back to her town by donating $50,000 to improve life for its citizens.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, the “Work It” rapper donated a fat cardboard check with “$50,000” written on it to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority (PRHA) in Virginia to celebrate last year’s street-naming ceremony that changed part of McLean Street to Missy Elliot Boulevard.
Elliot stated she sought ways to commemorate “Missy Elliott Day” and didn’t want it to be about her. She decided a donation would suffice. She handed the executive director of PRHA, Alisa Winston, the check at the Dr. O. Marriner Family Life Center at Grove Church.
“Instead of it being a celebration of Missy Elliot, you know about me, I wanted to give back and let that be the celebration of Missy Elliott, just to show that I love everybody out here,” she stated.
At Grove Church, the oldest church in Elliot’s hometown, the 52-year-old pioneer’s mother, Patricia Elliot, spoke about the importance of giving.
“So when you give, you give because you remember those days when you didn’t have,” Patricia told ceremony attendees. “If each person would give when they get to the top, then what a real beautiful world we would be in.”
Winston says PRHA plans to use Elliot’s $50,000 to pay 26 families’ unpaid rent.
Before the event ended, the rapper asserted that no matter what, Portsmouth had a special place in her heart.
“Just know that P-town is with me no matter where I go,” she said. “I love my city. I love my state. I love everything about it. Everything about Missy comes from here — the hospitality, the humility, the confidence — if you mess with me, it’s a problem. We sweet, but don’t try us.”
Elliot posted clips of the ceremony on her Instagram, writing in the caption, ” Thank you, VA! Where I was born taught me drive, taught me faith, taught me humility, also taught me don’t try me either. But most of all, it taught me the blessings I get are not just for me but to Bless someone else.”
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Although she should’ve received them before, Missy Elliot has been handed her well-deserved flowers, from getting a street named after her to having her Hollywood Walk of Fame Star (2021).
And, as Sis2Sis reported, the rapper and producer is making history as the first woman of hip-hop to get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on Nov. 3.
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