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Steve Carell announces that a charity will fund proms for students affected by LA fires
Steve Carell attends the "Despicable Me 4" New York Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center in June.
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Steve Carell is making amends for a memorable but painful episode of The Office.
The Golden Globe-winning actor announced in a video posted on YouTube that the charity Alice's Kids will cover the costs of prom tickets for hundreds of high school seniors in Altadena after a series of wildfires ravaged much of Los Angeles in January.
"Attention! Attention, all seniors," Carell said in a video posted to the charity's YouTube channel.
"Alice's Kids wanted me to let you know that they will be paying for all of your prom tickets. And if you've already paid for your prom tickets, they will reimburse you for your prom tickets," he said.
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"It's a pretty good deal," he added.
The Virginia-based children's charity said that the prom promise will support approximately 800 students across six high schools, estimating the total cost to be around $175,000.
Ron Fitzsimmons, the executive director of Alice's Kids, said Carell was asked to announce the pledge because so many young people binge-watched The Office during the pandemic.
"Steve has supported us for years. When I started talking to principals about paying for the tickets, someone at some point actually mentioned Steve's name ... and he told me that Steve was actually pretty popular with high schoolers because they 'discovered' The Office during COVID and they saw Despicable Me," Fitzsimmons said in an email to NPR.
"So, I came up with the idea of having Steve announce our gesture, and he agreed immediately to cut the video."
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Carell's promotion of this charitable act calls to mind one of the most polarizing episodes of the beloved American series The Office.
In the season six episode "Scott's Tots," Carell's character, Michael Scott, famously pledges to pay for a class of high school seniors' college tuition, only to reveal that he lacks the funds to fulfill his promise.
In contrast, students need not worry in this real-world scenario, as Alice's Kids is fully covering the costs.
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