
A Tough Year Inspired Imagine Dragons Ben McKee to Do More Active Good The bassist is giving away $1,000 a day, for a year, to a wide range of charitable causes.
By
Kimberly Ashton
July 7, 2021
Imagine Dragons bassist Ben McKee 09
Image courtesy of the artist
Ben McKee '09, the bassist for the band Imagine Dragons, spent much of the last year as did millions of others: isolated and frustrated. But instead of just watching the world crumble around me, McKee says he decided to redirect his energy into something positive.
In February, he launched a campaign to give away $1,000 to various causes every day for a year. Over the past several months, he's funded a wide range of organizations, including those that help animals and wildlife, the environment, women, people with disabilities, young people, LGTBQ+ people, and many others.
He typically starts his days by reading a newspaper, and if he sees something that doesn't feel right, he'll look for an organization that is doing something about it, and add it to his spreadsheet of groups he plans to donate to. He posts about each day's donation on Twitter.
Doing this first thing in the morning, I have one thing that I can look back on and be like, Hey, you know what, at least I did that.
- Ben McKee 09
By making a donation to these groups, and drawing attention to them, McKee says he's able to use the platform his fame has given him in a way that feels meaningful and empowered.
His inaugural donation, to the Tyler Robinson Foundation, an organization Imagine Dragons started in 2014 to help families pay for all the unforeseen costs that they face when a child is battling pediatric cancer, expenses such as transportation and housing.
Robinson was a young fan of the band. When he was 16 and going through chemotherapy, his older brother snuck him into an 18+ Imagine Dragons show. The brother put Robinson on his shoulders and the teen sang It's Time with vocalist Dan Reynolds. Afterward, Robinson met the group and they stayed in touch.
After his death, the band launched the foundation, holding its first annual gala in 2016. The year before the pandemic, the gala raised just under $3 million, McKee says. Last year, the foundation was unable to hold the event because of COVID-19.
Its been the most meaningful part of our career, for sure, and it's my favorite thing that I've ever been a part of, McKee said.
Growing up in Sonoma County, California, surrounded by redwoods and near the ocean, McKee is particularly drawn to causes promoting animal welfare and those that work to mitigate the effects of climate change. As a kid, he'd help raise nestlings and would care for wildlife when it was injured. It was just very much like a Disney movie, he said. And seeing how much care these animals need and how much they're affected by their interactions with people, and not having their environments maintained and respected the way they should be, really made me...I really have a big place in my heart for animals and for wildlife.
He's also been influenced by growing up in a family that was active in promoting social causes. McKee's grandmother was involved in Planned Parenthood, and McKee would go with his family to deliver groceries to people with HIV and AIDS.
Now McKee gives to Planned Parenthood and to organizations that help people who are dealing with illness. He says that his daily practice of giving has had positive knock-on effect for him as well.
I've been feeling more, just, optimistic, he said. Doing this first thing in the morning, I have one thing that I can look back on and be like, Hey, you know what, at least I did that, even if I screwed this other thing up, I started the day off with this thing, and I am completely behind that.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
29/04/2026
It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...
29/04/2026
In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...
29/04/2026
Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...
29/04/2026
(L-R) Derek Drescher, Coss Marte, and Syretta Wright have each other's backs. (Micheal Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Veronika Lee Cla...
29/04/2026
Combines EQ and harmonic distortion
Techivation's latest release is a simple EQ designed to offer quick control over a source's overall tonal balanc...
29/04/2026
Two new MPE controllers announced
Expressive E caused quite a stir when they released the Osmose, making the sort of expression that was once reserved for p...
29/04/2026
New modules & enhanced machine-learning
The latest version of iZotope's flagship restoration suite is now available, and now offers over 50 tools design...
29/04/2026
Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award
29 April, 2026
Media releases
Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Dr Jasmina Kevric...
29/04/2026
Some people stumble into their passion. Julissa Padilla walked straight into a film vault. For her, entertainment was never just about the movies themselves. It...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...
29/04/2026
nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...
29/04/2026
Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide
Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...
29/04/2026
freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...
29/04/2026
DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...
29/04/2026
Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...
29/04/2026
Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
29 Apr 2026
VEON and Kyivstar Fulfill Commitment to Invest USD 1 Billion in Ukr...
29/04/2026
Rhod Gilbert, Harriet Kemsley, Kae Kurd, Sara Pascoe and Vicki Pattison to take part in brand new series on free streaming service U
London, 29th April 2026: F...
29/04/2026
Wednesday 29 April 2026
Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentar...
29/04/2026
Re-examining the case of Ellie Williams and the wider story of grooming in the town of BarrowWednesday 29 April 2026
Sky announces upcoming documentary series ...
29/04/2026
Wednesday 29 April 2026
Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exc...
29/04/2026
Back to All News
SUPERNOVA: GENESIS Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Mi...
29/04/2026
Students and staff from Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge ran a 4.5km course around the roads of Cambridge as part of their annual programme of sustain...
29/04/2026
The Dawn Chorus airs Sunday 3 May from midnight to 7am on RT Radio 1 and RT ly...
29/04/2026
Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry.
April 28, 2026
LA JOLLA, CA S...
28/04/2026
The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast
Last week's...
28/04/2026
The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...
28/04/2026
The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...
28/04/2026
Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...
28/04/2026
Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...
28/04/2026
Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...
28/04/2026
Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...
28/04/2026
The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...
28/04/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...
28/04/2026
The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...
28/04/2026
Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...
28/04/2026
Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...