Ken Kragen’s Final Project, ‘Hands For Humanity’, Launches NFT Fundraising Project

deadline.com:

Ken Kragen, best known for his work in putting together the massive ‘We are the World’ and ‘Hands Across America’ projects, has a posthumous venture launching today.

The goal is to fundraise with NFTs for charities focused on climate, world hunger, cancer and Ukraine.Teaming with tech firms Cosmic Wire, an NFT arm that has done several prominent projects, including “Rolling Stone Lips Art”, and OneOf, a sustainable blockchain company, Hands For Humanity is Kragen’s final gift of philanthropy.

He died on Dec. 14, 2021.A portion of all proceeds from NFT sales will be shared amongst the Ken Kragen Foundation, Unicef \Ukraine, WhyHunger, F Cancer/Generaize , NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and Ocean Conservancy.Operating expenses for the project are capped at 40%, which will allow 60% to go to the Kragen Legacy, The Kragen Memorial Foundation Metaverse, which is being created as an additional revenue source for charities, and then shared amongst the Ken Kragen Foundation and the other charities.Kragen, best known as a major creative force behind ‘We Are the World’ and ‘Hands Across America’, was also the founding president of ‘USA for Africa’, the foundation set up to administer the aid money raised by “We Are the World,” which has raised more than $100 million to alleviate poverty and continues to raise money to this day.Kragen was also a television producer and an artist manager for entertainers that included the Bee Gees, Lionel Richie, the Smothers Brothers, Travis Tritt, Olivia Newton-John, Kenny Rogers, and Trisha Yearwood.

Kragen and actress Cathy Worthington had been married since 1978.The NFTs generated for the project will be limited to 10,000 pieces and depict two joined hands.