Country music star Carrie Underwood celebrated the release of her first-ever holiday album My Gift by gifting her hometown Oklahoma school district, Checotah Public Schools, with $100,000 worth of Chromebooks and other supplies.
The Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM Awards) co-Entertainer of the Year, American Idol winner and 2001 graduate of Checotah High School's donation came at a time when the coronavirus (COVID-19) makes distance learning tools necessary.
Underwood announced the donation through her C.A.T.S. Foundation (Checotah Animal, Town, and School Foundation) during a an appearance on Today.
"Schools need Chromebooks because they just don't know what's going to happen with the pandemic, and we were more than happy through my C.A.T.S. Foundation to help out," Underwood said, as quoted by Tulsa World.
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Underwood's new Christmas album, My Gift, arrived last week (Sept. 25), and it features special guest appearances from multi-Grammy award-winning superstar John Legend and Underwood's 5-year-old son, Isaiah Fisher. It turns out that it won't be Underwood's only holiday season surprise for country music fans. We'll also be getting a music special via HBO Max, featuring a mix of Christmas classics and songs off the new album.
"I've always wanted to make a Christmas album and it's been a long time coming," Underwood said in press statement. "I knew this would be my next music project after wrapping my tour last year, and I think it's turned out to be the perfect time for an album like this, in this period of such personal and spiritual reflection. For me, it's more important than ever to focus on the true meaning of Christmas in a project like this. Even though it has been a tough year for all of us, sometimes I feel like the greatest realizations can be inspired by the most difficult times, and make us more grateful for the things we do have and for what truly matters."
