KEYS CHARITY RAISES MONEY DURING BET AWARDS: Keep a Child Alive collects over $130,000 in donations during on-air plea.

July 2, 2009

Alicia Keys       *Alicia Keys' appearance on the 2009 BET Awards Show Sunday night raised more than $130,000 from more than 26,000 mobile donors who texted their donations to Keep a Child Alive, the non-profit organization co-founded by the singer to provide health care and housing to children with HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.      

       During Alicia Keys' acceptance speech for the BET Humanitarian Relief Award, Keys asked viewers to text ALIVE to 90999 to give $5 through their mobile phones, saying, "Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something."       

       Seconds after texting in, users received a message back asking for confirmation. Mobile donors confirmed by replying "YES" via text message. The $5 donation will be added to their next mobile phone bill.      

       "We are thrilled with the results from Alicia's shout out. With a ten-second call to action we raised over $130,000 to support Keep a Child Alive's life saving work," said Elizabeth Santiso, Vice President for Keep a Child Alive.      

       This May, the television show American Idol featured Keep a Child Alive. The segment featured Alicia Keys and Rwandan rapper Noah, asking viewers to text in donations. The promotion raised over $500,000 and is the largest one-time amount raised through text donations to date.