Global superstars BTS, hailing from South Korea, are known for their musical versatility, meaningful music, and strong stage presence. Apart from their thriving career, they have always used their position to do philanthropic work. Currently serving in the military as per the mandate in the country, their fans continue to work towards social causes. Their philanthropy is taken forward by their fans called ARMY! Through organized efforts, they do monthly charity donations and birthday fundraisers, the fandom picks institutions to help. Indian fans have always stepped up for several causes and on the occasion of member J-Hope’s birthday (February 18), they rallied to raise over Rs. 3 lakhs to provide essential medical and urgent aid to children and women in Palestine.
A total of Rs. 3.45 lakh was raised and donated among 12 NGOs. Accompanied by screenshots of emails, the details of funds raised and allocation underscored transparency. Army Projects India, along with the donations from fans, have also directed their work towards various causes within India over the last few years, donating a total of Rs. 6 lakhs.
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With just two individuals managing logistics and organization behind the scenes, BTS ARMY on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram plays a pivotal role in spreading awareness and driving contributions. When Bollywood Hungama reached out to inquire how many people are actively involved in organizing the donation projects, in a statement, the two individuals said, “It's just the two of us who manage the logistics & organizing in the background but the majority of the other work is done by the fanbase on Twitter & Instagram who constantly share, donate & help spreading our projects on different platforms.”
Adding to that, they said, “As fanbases are already organized spaces, it's fairly easy to divide & share resources. Being a relatively huge fandom, we have organized & dedicated pages for almost everything. Over time these pages build trust & in turn ARMYs further support such projects. We just have to plan it out and all the other platforms are connected to boost each other. For our projects, we make sure to verify our sources (within our capacity) by looking for NGOs working on the ground and people who are directly affected by it have families & relatives on ground to vet for the same.”
In terms of cross-checking the funds and the right places for donations, they said, “For cross-checking resources to whom we are donating, like we mentioned there are fan pages dedicated entirely on vetting & sharing trusted sources. Most NGOs we donated to are globally trusted pages like Pious Projects & Care for Gaza, PCRF etc. It is a tedious task to ensure the donated money is going for the cause we want it to, so we try our best to cross-check by the photo/video proofs these organizations publish on their social media/websites to ensure it. Regular updates about the donations received & allocation of funds are a must for us to donate to them.”
When it comes to planning and execution of a project, they had to step up in helping the people of Palestine amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza by Israel. “We took donations the entire month of February, and we both simply knew we had to do something since last year when the ongoing genocide had started. Of course, it took us some time to figure out how to donate internationally (it was our first time), how to use PayPal accounts, conversation rates, where to donate etc, and we were constantly updating ourselves with changing scenarios the entire month, as per the latest urgent needs we saw, we made the donations as it is,” they said.
When asked about ensuring transparency and accountability in the donation process, particularly regarding the allocation of funds to different causes in case challenges that may arise, they said, “This step is the most important for us as well as the people who trust us with their money. People who have been with us since our first project might personally know us and therefore trust us, but what about new people finding our page? Therefore, we share updates almost every day, or at least weekly during an ongoing project with screenshots of payments received in our bank accounts, total amount according to Google forms that we require everyone to fill & screenshots of each and every donation made is shared in a systematic manner.”
They concluded, “For any decision that we are unsure about, we take Instagram polls or ask through tweets. We make sure every donation is counted for by making a Google form and people often get their donation dross checked via direct messages as well. It is time time-consuming task and it is our responsibility to be transparent with each & every fund we receive via our fundraisers.”
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Currently, in the name of BTS member SUGA who celebrates his birthday on March 9, they are raising funds for Gaza, Sudan and Congo. The details are currently available on their social media pages as it will run for March 2024 month.
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Not only that, BTS fans have been raising voices against agency HYBE, which has K-pop groups like TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM, and NewJeans among several others, advocating for the dismissal of HYBE America CEO Scooter Braun.
As per The Korea Times, fans of BTS sent a truck to the HYBE headquarters in South Korea on February 23 to protest against Braun. The message on the truck read, “Korean and International ARMY (BTS' global fan base) demand HYBE divests from Zionism and Zionists in the industry. If our demands are not met, ARMY will continue to push for you to meet our demands. Do not look away when the same thing that happened to your Korean ancestors is happening to Palestinians. We ask that you stand for humanity, for the right side of history and against violence.”
As per the report, on December 24, Scooter Braun delivered a speech in Israel as shared by media network Arutz Sheva, known in English as Israel National News, as he allegedly called for the release of Israeli hostages. In response to the speech, HYBE, in a statement in February 2024, said, “It is a personal statement that is separate from company management.” However, the music giant did not make any statement regarding the protests from fans and the truck stationed outside their Seoul office.
Btw i think this is the last day the truck will be parked at hybe SO YALL NEED TO TREND #하이브시오니스트를제거하다 #HYBEDivestFromZionism AND SPAM KMEDIAAAAAAAAA pic.twitter.com/UgVnbyIPXO
— Miriam FESTA⁷???? (⟭⟬ face???? ✨????) (@hobiriam) February 24, 2024
On social media, BTS fans, with other fandoms joining, are using hashtags like #HYBEDivestFromZionism to express opposition to Braun's support for Israel amid the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Fans have critiqued Braun's involvement with HYBE, urging the company to distance itself from him, as he has continued to make comments and social media posts amid the violence in Gaza. The fans have continued to trend the hashtags on X, formerly Twitter, to bring it to the notice of the label. They have demanded his removal and threatened to withhold support for HYBE artists until the demands are addressed.
as long as scooter braun is involved with future projects of hybe artists, I will not be purchasing any albums, merch, or other related content. #HYBEDivestFromZionism
#하이브시오니스트를제거하다 #freepalestine pic.twitter.com/4g2Zc7kfwh— randi⁷ ???????? (@bts_trology) February 29, 2024
For the unversed, in 2021, HYBE joined forces with Ithaca Holdings, founded by Braun in 2013. Renowned for steering icons like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, Braun ascended to the sole CEO role of HYBE America in January 2023.
ALSO READ: BTS V to release new digital single FRI(END)S on March 15
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