Rapper The Game and his eldest son, Harlem Taylor, are continuing their charitable efforts, having started a new fundraising campaign for three-year-old Zachaeus Waters who was shot in the face in May after he witnessed the execution-style murder of his pregnant mother, Candace Pickens, at a local park. The toddler, who was found next to his mother’s body and has lost his eye as a result of the shooting, now has a GoFundMe campaign in his name started by the Compton rapper and his son in an effort to raise $5,000 for him and his father.
It is believed that Pickens was killed by her partner when she refused to get an abortion. While the motive remains unconfirmed by authorities, it is a sentiment that is echoed by many of her friends and family in reports and on social media.
The Game reached out to Waters’ father, Daquan and asked for permission to launch a charity drive on GoFundMe to help the grieving father and son get by. The initial goal was to raise $5,000 through crowdfunding but the goal has since been surpassed and has reached $10,000 in the three days since its launch on August 1st, with The Game and his manager kick starting the initiative with $1,000 each (The Game has since donated a further $5,000). The campaign has since been shared on Twitter by Snoop Dogg.
Support the cause. 🙏🏾 https://t.co/CQVbuQJg4n pic.twitter.com/YWzWQUoro6
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) 1 August 2016
Waters’ story came to the rapper’s attention when his son brought it to him and the two decided to put their fundraising abilities to work through sharing their GoFundMe campaign for the toddler on Instagram. This isn’t the first time The Game has promoted his son’s charitable efforts, having previously shared another GoFundMe campaign, A good song for a good cop, started by the thirteen-year-old, which continues to raise to raise money to assist a police officer’s community building efforts in Little Rock, Arkansas (to which The Game also donated).
While some critics question why the rapper doesn’t simply make the donation in full himself, he has explained in the past that he hopes to empower his son by allowing him to set up the GoFundMe and invite the public to join him. Leading up to the release of The Documentary 2, the rapper gave away $1,000 a day to fans and he has donated $1 million to the city of Flint, Michigan in the midst of its water crisis. He also does his own charity work through The Robin Hood project.
Image: The Game (Instagram)