Prince came to aid of NC’s Princeville in 2000

In 2000, Prince donated $37,000 to the town of Princeville in North Carolina, after reading articles about the devastation wreaked there by Hurricane Floyd.

Sam Knight, then Princeville’s zoning officer, said the money was earmarked to buy building materials.

“Although $37,000 will not go very far when you talk about building supplies, we’re very grateful to him for thinking about us,” Knight said at the time. “Even though you can’t tell it from his music, he’s a very religious man who wanted no publicity about his gift to the town.”

Princeville’s then public relations coordinator Kim Burwell said the musician sent a representative to the Edgecombe County town to assess the immediate needs.

“He sent a representative from his charitable organization,” Burwell said. “We took her over to the distribution center and gave an overview of some of the town’s immediate needs.”

Cathy Adams, the entertainer’s representative, spent three days at the center. When she returned to the Midwest, he approved the donation.

Princeville, the first town incorporated by blacks in the nation, was inundated by flood waters in September 1999 after Hurricane Floyd caused a levy on the Tar River to break.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Prince came to aid of NC’s Princeville in 2000."