The first time I found out about Orville Burrell (Shaggy) being involved in philanthropic work for the Bustamante Children’s Hospital when Entertainment Report’s Anthony Miller caught up with Shaggy at the hospital after he had, without fanfare given them a monetary contribution.  It was reported that the amount was $60,000 US coming out of his own pocket.

From what I read, Shaggy first made donations to the hospital in 2001 out of his pocket until 2008.  As a result of Shaggy’s contributions, the hospital received ventilators, an EEG machine, upgrade of the medical oxygen system.  During this time, he also worked with Scotiabank to create a recreation area for the the patients.

In 2009, Shaggy broadened his philanthropic efforts by inaugurating a yearly fundraising concert.  It became a biennial concert after the 2010 and has been staged every other year since.  As a result, 450 pieces of equipment have been given to the hospital.  In 2019, the hospital was able to open a cardiac unit at a cost of US $700,000, half of the money given by the Shaggy and Friends Foundation.

Based on the above and Shaggy’s explanation in the video, it is very sad that his reputation was unfairly tarnished by The Sunday Gleaner’s November 3 headline   ” ‘Busta’ still waiting – Hospital yet to benefit from $100m raised at 2018 Shaggy and Friends charity concert”.  This was after Shaggy had given an explanation to a Gleaner reporter who had called him about the issue.

Even though the story did have Shaggy’s wife Mrs. Rebecca Burrell explaining the reasons for the delay, the headline gave the impression that there was impropriety in how the concert organizers handled the funds raised.

Mass media has a vital role and a tremendous responsibility that needs to be exercised very carefully because serious damage can be done to people’s reputations if it is not.