Share your community news, announcements and events with us.
Tuesday, Jan. 03, 2012
Scotty gives back
Singer delivers gifts to Dominican children
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeAfter a year that saw him go from the halls of Garner High School to Hollywood TV studios to arena stages across the nation, Scotty McCreery closed 2011 by visiting with hundreds of children who are much less fortunate.
Scotty, the 18-year-old "American Idol" winner, traveled to the Dominican Republic on Dec. 27 with a group of family members and friends. Their mission was to deliver shoeboxes filled with gifts to poverty-stricken children.
The trip was part of "Operation Christmas Child," the international charity program organized by Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse organization.
-
Among Scotty McCreery's honors this year:
Billboard 200 Album Chart: Scotty's album "Clear As Day" ranks as the 57th best seller for the year, right between Lady Gaga's "The Fame" and Miranda Lambert's "Revolution." (Adele's "21" is No. 1.) "Clear As Day," released in October, has gone gold, meaning at least 500,000 copies shipped.
Top Artists Chart: Scotty is 81st. (Again, Adele is No. 1.)
Top New Artists Chart: Scotty ranks eighth, based on sales. (Wiz Khalifa tops this chart.)
T op Country Albums Chart: "Clear As Day" is 12th. (Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" is No. 1.)
Top Country Songs Chart: Scotty's "I Love You This Big" ranks as the 63rd top-selling country song of the year. ("Crazy Girl" by the Eli Young Band tops the list.) "I Love You This Big" also has achieved gold-record status.
Scotty noted that he has helped put together shoeboxes for the program for years. The boxes - usually containing school supplies, toys and necessities - go to needy children during the Christmas season.
Thanks to his newfound celebrity this year, Scotty had the opportunity to see up-close what the shoeboxes can mean to recipients. Operation Christmas Child hoped to deliver shoeboxes to more than 8.5 million children worldwide this Christmas.
The Dominican Republic holds special appeal for Scotty, said his mother, Judy McCreery.
"Baseball's big in the Dominican Republic, so it's going to be great for Scotty," she said. Besides music, Scotty's other passion is baseball and he hopes to earn a spot on Garner High's team this spring.
Mike and Judy McCreery were among those joining Scotty for the trip, which continued through Saturday.
Since winning the top-ranked TV singing competition in May, Scotty's life has been a bit of a whirlwind.
He's performed on numerous talk shows, headlined last summer's "American Idols Live!" tour, earned gold records, saw his first album soar to the top of the charts and been named the top new artist at the American Country Awards.
In a few weeks, he'll be heading out on another tour, where he'll open shows for fellow country singer Brad Paisley.
But throughout his success, Scotty has tried to live his life as normally as possible when he's back home in Garner. That came as a surprise to some TV and music executives.
"They said it's impossible - there's no way you can go back to school," Scotty, a senior, remembered.
"I said, 'Look, y'all don't know my hometown.'"
Scotty aimed to get back to his hometown Saturday night to see his exciting year come to a close. So how did the "American Idol" plan to celebrate New Year's Eve?
His plans weren't firmed up, but he expected something low-key with friends.
"I'm sure there will be something," he said with a grin.
@Nyx.CommentBody@