Maluma is giving back in a big way to the people of Chile…
The 23-year-old Colombian star , who this week will perform for the first time at Chile’s annual Vina del Mar International Song Festival, will donate 100 percent of the proceeds from his performance to a Chilean foundation to help the victims of the country’s devastating forest fires.
The show was already highly anticipated: According to Chilean media reports, Maluma was the artist to most quickly sell out the 20,000-seat Quinta Vergara Amphitheater.
His donation announcement Monday (Feb. 20) on Instagram sent his fans into a frenzy, generating over 400,000 likes.
“Alex Hernandez, director of the Vina del Mar festival, showed me hundreds of stories of those affected by fires — moving faces of families that lost EVERYTHING,” Maluma wrote, alluding to more than 100 forest fires that devastated the country in January.
“Today, I put myself in their place and decide to give my grain of sand to help out in this situation. That’s why 100 percent of my earnings in this Festival will take another route. Their destiny is now in the hands of the Desafio Levantemos Chile foundation. It’s the least I can do for my Chilean brothers.”
Maluma, who will perform Friday (Feb. 24), arrived a few days early to participate as a judge in the weeklong songwriting competition that also takes place every night as part of the festival.
Desafio Levantemos Chile was created in 2010 to raise funds following a devastating earthquake. Since then, the organization has funded myriad projects designed to help people affected by catastrophe. The latest is rebuilding the area destroyed by the January fires.