Star Wars: Force for Change announces how much money was raised for UNICEF, as well as the winner to appear in Star Wars: Episode VII.
Rarely has being a Star Wars fan been as rewarding to our own galaxy as when Disney and Lucasfilm partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to raise money and awareness for the marvelous cause of new innovation labs. Aptly titled “Star Wars: Force for Change,” the initiative brought global attention to a good cause when J.J. Abrams temporarily broke his vow of silence to reveal a sneak peak of images from the set of Star Wars: Episode VII. Oh, and he offered a lightsaber-sized carrot with the chance to appear in a scene for the next film by donating to this fundraiser.
Now, the results are in, and Star Wars: Force for Change has raised a stunning $4,261,410 million to date. As relayed via a Lucasfilm press release, the funds are enough to create seven to eight new UNICEF innovation labs on their own. Through the fundraising platform Omaze, fans from 125 countries donated to the initiative.
#ForceForChange@starwars#EpisodeVII@omaze@UNICEF#uinnovate@UNICEFinnovatepic.twitter.com/pCAbhcjKxn
— Bad Robot (@bad_robot) August 11, 2014
That robot hand looks like it could be important, but that's another story.
And the winner was announced too: a lifelong Force fan who saw the original Star Wars in theaters, D.C. Barnes can still remember his five-year-old self beholding it in 1977. The Denver, Colorado resident was caught on tape recollecting his favorite Star Wars memory when he was surprised by Force for Change workers with the revelation that he and a guest will be flown to London to appear in the seventh Star Wars movie.
“This is my new favorite Star Wars moment!” Barnes exclaimed. The complete video can be seen below.
Disney committed an additional $1 million to support the launch of Star Wars: Force for Change.
Star Wars: Episode VII is due to release in this galaxy on December 18, 2015. You can read all our Star Wars coverage right here.
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