On June 10, 2016, the bright and beautiful light that was Christina Grimmie was distinguished. Although she’s no longer physically with us, her soul is still present through the Christina Grimmie Foundation.
Good Celebrity is more than just an outlet for positive news on your favorite stars but a showcase for the wonderful charities that, day in and day out, improve the condition of life for so many people.
The Christina Grimmie Foundation is one such charity and, much like the talent singer whose name it bears, it makes a profound impact on the world.
Who was Christina Grimmie?
Christina first gained notoriety thanks to her YouTube channel where she belted out Top 40 hits. Her talented pipes drew the attention of 3.8 million subscribers. In 2013, she released her debut studio album With Love and opened for Selena Gomez during the singer’s North American Tour.
All of that led to her biggest claim to fame as a contestant on Season 6 of the NBC singing competition, The Voice, where she picked Adam Levine as her mentor. Under his tutelage, Grimmie finished 3rd.
“That was probably one of the most defining moments of my life, for sure. I feel like I learned so much about myself as an artist, I feel like I grew up in a short amount of time. In a very good way,” she told us of her experience on the show in 2015.
“It definitely elevated me, I feel, in a professional way. I feel like people, you know, probably didn’t take me as seriously when I was just living on the YouTube space.” she said adding “The Voice kind of brought this level of professionalism to the table and I never really had that and the exposure was so widespread.”
Her career took off from there as she toured with Rachel Platten, collaborated with Sir Paul McCartney and other pop musicians on a song about global warming, prepared her next album, and made the aforementioned pit stop to the Good Celebrity offices.
During her visit, she answered Twitter questions from fans and graciously performed her song “With Love.”
Christina also gave us insight into her charitable work with City of Hope and The Humane Society.
“I am a huge dog lover,” said Grimmie who performed a cover of the Bonnie Tyler song “I Need a Hero” to raise money for the organization. “I just have a very soft spot for animals in general,” she added.
Following her tragic death, The Humane Society created an animal medical fund in Christina’s name and honored her at the organization’s “To the Rescue” benefit in Los Angeles with its Impact Award.
Thank you @HumaneSociety for honoring Christina with the Impact Award & @RachelPlatten for the beautiful tribute 💚#CGforever #TeamGrimmie pic.twitter.com/WE26klNC5j
— Christina Grimmie (@TheRealGrimmie) April 23, 2017
What is the Christina Grimmie Foundation?
In February 2017, the Grimmie family released “Invisible,” the first single from Christina’s posthumous EP, Side B.
“As an independent artist, Christina dreamed of a major record label distributing her music” read a statement from the family posted on Grimmie’s Twitter account. “That dream has COME TRUE for our dear angel…Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, will be releasing Christina’s new music under Republic Records.”
Proceeds from the purchase of the single went toward establishing a memorial fund in her name.
“As we have always known, Christina’s life was so very special, not only to us but to everyone she touched with her joyful heart, beautiful voice and love for life and the Lord,” the Grimmie family told People.
“Words cannot express what the many memorials, donations, and tributes shared by Christina’s fans and those in the media and entertainment industry mean to us. She will live on in our hearts forever. We will take our time in determining the best ways to honor Christina moving forward.”
From there The Christina Grimmie Foundation was born. A California-based non-profit benefit corporation, the foundation’s mission, according to the website, is “to provide financial, emotional and encouragement support to individuals and families who suffer from the devastating effects of gun violence; and support for families facing breast cancer diagnosis.”
Christina’s mother is a breast cancer survivor, so naturally fighting the disease was something close to her heart. Her love for her mom and willingness to do anything to support her, led to the family choosing the cause as a beneficiary of the foundation.
As for the decision to support families of gun violence, the Grimmie’s found out all too well the pain of losing a loved one on June 10 and knew it was the right choice to work with those recovering from similar tragedies.
“We as a family have a unique understanding of both of those. So we want others to feel the same support that we felt when we couldn’t think,” her father Bud told Access Hollywood. “That’s what we’re going to do to continue Christina’s legacy of helping others.”
Q by Pasquale
Reaching another avenue beyond music, the foundation raises money through purchases of the Pasquale footwear Q by Christina Grimmie.
Reaching another avenue beyond music, the foundation raises money through purchases of the Pasquale footwear Q by Christina Grimmie.
“Pasquale took a very big interest in her story, her personality and said ‘I think we can capture her with these shoes’,” said her brother Marcus.
The shoes feature a backward bass clef and a treble clef, which creates her initials “CG.”
“When I first saw the logo on the shoe, I was just like ‘Christina would love this,’” Marcus said. “Her and my dad kind of making that idea up together years ago and just kind of stuck with it. That was her logo.”
Living After Death
Perhaps the best person to sum up what the Christina Grimmie Foundation is all about is Christina herself.
On the homepage of the organization’s website is a quote from the singer which reads:
“People aren’t born strong. People grow stronger little by little, encountering difficult situations learning not to run from them.”
Her death, while tragic and far too soon, won’t be what defines Christina but a footnote in the long story of charity, philanthropy, and love that began while she was here and will continue long after her passing.
Stay linked to Good Celebrity for all the breaking celebrity news headlines and stories about people doing good!
(Photo Credit: Christina Grimmie Foundation)