Heal Los Angeles Foundation is a

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

in Los Angeles, California co-founded by philanthropist Prince Jackson and John Muto. The foundation collaborates with other charity foundations to bring inner-city youth toys, food, and educational tools. They host an annual charitable

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

costume party A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Western culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock chara ...

they call "Thriller Night".

Background

Heal Los Angeles Foundation started as a student service organization at Loyola Marymount University in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, in 2016 when Prince Jackson met John Muto. Inspired by Jackson's father,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's philanthropic work, they looked for ways to help

underserved An underrepresented group describes a subset of a population that holds a smaller percentage within a significant subgroup than the subset holds in the general population. Specific characteristics of an underrepresented group vary depending on the ...

communities. The creation of Heal LA was structured after the

Heal the World Foundation The original Heal the World Foundation was a charitable organization founded by singer Michael Jackson in 1992. The foundation's creation was inspired by his charitable single of the same name. Through his foundation, Jackson airlifted 46 tons o ...

. The foundation's slogan is "make that change."

Fundraising

Prince Jackson received a Motif Lifetime Medal of Honor for his work with Heal Los Angeles in 2018. Heal Los Angeles Foundation's ambassadors are founders Jackson and Muto, artist Paris Jackson, actor

Chris Tucker Christopher Tucker (born August 31, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. Tucker made his debut in 1992 as a stand-up performer on the HBO comedy series ''Def Comedy Jam'', where he frequently appeared on the show during the 1990s. He app ...

, artist Omer Bhatti,

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

's US creative director Wanyi Jiang, and interviewer Liam McEwan. Heal Los Angeles and its ambassadors donated meals to frontline hospital workers during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles Ten of the first twenty confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States occurred in California, the first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. All of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China, as testing wa ...

. In May 2020, the foundation with LA based company Fresh N Lean and the Gospel Mission Baptist Church, handed out more than 5,000 free meals to 800 households during the pandemic. The foundation also help kids from vulnerable areas and organize free turkey giveaways for

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

. In 2020, the charity organization and the Los Angeles Police Baseball Foundation brought toys, holiday

shopping spree ''Shopping Spree'' is a game show that aired on the Family Channel (now Freeform) for two seasons from September 30, 1996, to December 26, 1997, with reruns airing until August 14, 1998. Two teams of two unacquainted players went on a shopping ...

s, and educational initiative and tools to inner-city youth.

Thriller Night events

"Thriller Night" events are annual

parties that takes place at the Jackson family's

Hayvenhurst Hayvenhurst is a compound in the Encino neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley in California, United States. It became the home of the Jackson family, including Michael Jackson, who perfected the Moonwalk and recorded demos for the albums '' ...

compound in Encino, Los Angeles. These charitable events benefit the Heal Los Angeles Foundation, the Dee Dee Jackson Foundation and the LA Police Baseball Foundation. On October 25, 2019, Prince hosted the 3rd annual event together with his brother, Prince Michael Jackson, also known as Bigi. They transformed the property into a haunted house. Guests included their cousins and extended family members. The 2020 event guests included Heal Los Angeles foundation's ambassadors

, Jackson family fans, other members of the Jackson family and Omarion, who provided a virtual performance. On October 29, 2021, Prince's brother, Bigi, and their cousin Taj, son of Tito Jackson, designed the haunted house for the event. Chris Tucker delivered a stand-up comedy show, and

Elijah Blake Sean Fenton (born June 4, 1992), better known by the stage name Elijah Blake, is a Dominican-American singer, songwriter and record producer. He wrote songs for Keyshia Cole, Rick Ross, Rihanna, and co-wrote Usher's number-one R&B hit, " Climax ...

performed. A Legacy Room featuring

's costumes from the "

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

" and ''

Michael Jackson's Ghosts ''Michael Jackson's Ghosts'' is a 1996 short film starring Michael Jackson, directed by Stan Winston, and written by Stephen King and Mick Garris. It is based on a story by Garris, Jackson and King. ''Ghosts'' tells the story of an eccentric man ...

'' videos, along with some of his awards, was opened for the guests. During the 2022 event, and the 40th anniversary of Michael's ''

'' album, Chris Tucker and Steve Harvey were honored and received the inaugural "Man in The Mirror" Award. The award is given to influential individuals using their platforms for good. Tucker and Harvey accepted the award that was presented by Prince Jackson. Guests included Michael's other two children, Paris Jackson and Bigi. Norwegian illusionist Alexx Alexxander attended the event, he was invited by Prince to perform.

Vanessa Hudgens Vanessa Anne Hudgens (; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in ''Thirteen'' (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006� ...

also attended the event.

References

{{Reflist Children's charities based in the United States Foundations based in the United States Charities based in California Jackson family (show business) Organizations established in 2016 Organizations based in Los Angeles

Background

Fundraising

Thriller Night events

See also

References