Latin Grammy Awards will honor Shakira for humanitarian works
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It’s hardly surprising that Shakira is up for three trophies at November’s Latin Grammy Awards ceremony in Las Vegas. The Colombian pop superstar already is a seven-time Latin Grammy winner, and she’s also taken home two Grammys as well.
But even if Shakira leaves the Mandelay Bay Convention Center empty-handed on Nov. 10, her efforts won’t go unrewarded. On the eve of the Latin Grammys, Shakira will receive the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year award, underscoring her reputation as a kind of Latina equivalent of U2 frontman Bono in philanthropic do-gooding.
Shakira was only 18 when she founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation, a charity that funds schools for Colombia’s many underserved and impoverished children. She also serves as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, focusing primarily on educational issues and advocacy.
Additionally, she has performed countless benefit concerts to raise money for natural-disaster victims and public health and education initiatives. People en Español named Shakira its humanitarian of the year as part of its Las Estrellas del Año (Stars of the Year) awards in the magazine’s December 2008/January 2009 issue.
Shakira, who is the youngest artist to receive the academy’s award, will be feted with a Nov. 9 all-star gala concert at which a number of her own songs will be covered. A big chunk of the gala’s proceeds will be funneled into the Pies Descalzos Foundation as well as the Latin Recording Academy’s Latin Grammy in the Schools educational efforts.
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-- Reed Johnson
