The Dallas Examiner
Grammy Award-winning producer and recording artist Timbaland came to Dallas on Feb.18 to show his support for The Chocolate MINT Foundation during its annual Donation of Love campaign for its food pantry. The event was hosted by K104’s Lady Jade, with music from DJ Freestyle.
“The campaign goal is to raise 10,000 canned goods so we can serve 1,000 families in the month of February, because February is just all about love and giving back and giving up yourself for someone else,” said Felicia Frazier, president and executive director.
Frazier’s husband and Timbaland have been working together in the music industry for years and share the same passion of giving back to those who are in need. Timbaland has been supporting the organization ever since it opened its doors back in 2009.
Timbaland stopped by the foundation to support the campaign as well as sign copies of his new book, The Emperor of Sound: A Memoir, which is in stores now. He started writing the book about two years ago, even though he has been successful in the music industry for about two decades.
Timbaland revealed he held off on writing the book because every few years he evolves, whether it’s his appearance, weight, music or mentality, and he wanted to include his transformations in the book. He credits his success to having faith and hopes to inspire readers. Music is his life, so he took a moment to share advice to upcoming artist and producers who are trying to make it big.
“Have faith, the Internet, social media, that’s how it happens nowadays. It’s not really that hard. The part that is hard is people don’t really wanna work hard. The opportunities are already there. If you’re good, people will find you. It’s too easy,” Timbaland revealed.
The Les Twins, the French identical twin dancing duo who have worked with artists such as Beyonce and Missy Elliot, were also in attendance. They participated in a hip-hop dance clinic with the youth.
Through service, education, training and mentoring, The Chocolate MINT – Mentor, Invest, Nurture, Train – foundation is dedicated to promoting economic growth and social awareness to children and families.
“I’ve always had a love for kids. I’ve always wanted to help them. I wanted them to have a voice. My goal for them was for them to have a voice, so that people could understand that they really had something to say and there is a root to every cause. If we get to the root then we could understand the children. Most of the time we don’t get to the root, we just see the surface issues and we don’t get to the root of what the children are really going through. If we could do that, then we could get past everything else,” Fraizer said.
The organization’s food pantry serves over 125 families each week every Tuesday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The foundation also offers an after-school program for over 100 children. The program provides the children with transportation after school, a hot meal and tutoring. It offers a STEAM summer program that focuses on science, technology, engineering, arts and math as well as an internship and boxing program. For more information on donating or volunteering, visit http://www.thechocolatemint.org.