In 2011, Prince performed a concert in Columbia, South Carolina, the hometown of his drummer, John Blackwell. After the concert, Prince donated a quarter-million dollars to a charity called the Eau Claire Promise Zone, which benefits preschoolers in the city’s poorer neighborhoods. Since then, the donation has had a substantial effect.
“Many projects were funded by Prince,” said Eau Claire’s executive director, Matthew Costello, quoted in and article in Columbia’s The State newspaper, “such as the GO Forward Intergenerational Afterschool Center at Gable Oaks Apartment Community, a town-wide reenactment and celebration of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech in Hyatt Park, educational workshops for new parents and childcare center staff, kindergarten readiness programs for 4 and 5 year olds, and summer feeding programs.”
Five years later, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, quoted on MiLB.com, said, “Prince’s contributions to the arts and to the causes of children and education in the City of Columbia will never be forgotten.”
One of the ways that Prince will be remembered in South Carolina is through these “Purple Game, Purple Game” jerseys, which the Columbia Fireflies will wear June 9, two days after what would have been Prince’s 58th birthday. The evening will feature lots of activities and promotions with tie-ins to the music legend. Per the team’s website:
Fireflies players will sport Prince-themed jerseys in their game against the West Virginia Power (Pittsburgh Pirates). The jerseys will be auctioned off with proceeds benefitting the Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter. The Fireflies staff will get in on the action as well, donning raspberry berets—the kind you find in a second-hand store.
Other activities will include purple fireworks, prizes for people driving little red corvettes or born in 1999, and a “special Prince edition of the Northpoint Heating and Air Kiss Cam, featuring fans wearing purple shirts, blouses with ruffles or raspberry berets.”
Since the singer’s untimely death, a handful of teams have payed homage to Prince in one way or another, especially the major league teams in Prince’s native Minnesota, but this one seems particularly poignant given the effect that Prince had (and continues to have) on the city of Columbia.
