Ludacris presented $10,000 to a father-daughter duo who’s been working hard to keep incarcerated parents connected to their children. During a recent episode of “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” the rapper/actor surprised Jay’Aina Patton and her father/ex-prisoner Antoine with the donation.
Patton, who was once forced to live separately from her father as he served time, teamed up with him to create Photo Patch, a program and mobile app that facilitates communication between the prisoners and their children while simultaneously aiming to increase the number of women currently in the tech industry.
“Right now, I’m on a mission to help 10,000 girls of color get into the world of tech and start their career path,” Patton told Ellen.
“Just for me, there’s not much representation of people who look like me in the world of tech, and I know other little girls want to get into this world. They don’t see that they can do it. So, I want to be that guide and help them do it — and just start them off with their career. I actually have a scholarship fund as well that we’re raising awareness for to help these women and girls start their career.”
Moments later, Patton and her dad were surprised by Ludacris, who praised their work and offered them $10,000 to continue on with their app, which encourages children to send letters, postcards, photos and more to their incarcerated parents.
“I love what you guys are doing,” said the “Splash Waterfalls” star. “[I] absolutely love what you’re doing. I have family members that are incarcerated and all they ever ask for is pictures. You guys are connecting the world. I have my own foundation that helps facilitate dreams for young ladies like yourself. I came here personally because I want to donate $10,000 to what you’re doing.”
Look below to see Ludacris’ donation.