“I know I can’t heal the world. But I can help.”
Michael Jackson first said these words when he was a child, ladies and gentleman. I’ve heard this many times before but it still continues to astound me.
In the early 1980s, I sent him a letter telling him about a black family whose property I had listed for sale right near the Coliseum. The 87-year-old father, who had severe heart disease, had three younger children ranging in age from 16 to 19, still struggling to get through their…
September 30, 1992
President Iliescu of Romania inaugurates a playground for 500 orphans
which Michael has financed. Michael also discusses his Heal The World Foundation.In 1992, my Dad, John Croasdale, received a phone call from a man who wanted Playdale to build a playground for a big orphanage in Bucharest, Romania, for 500 children. That was the furthest Playdale had ever been to build a playground, the man did not say who wanted the playground to be built, so the designers and installers got to work, they built the playground in the factories and sent it in a massive lorry to Romania, six people went along too, when they arrived in Bucharest, they discovered that Michael Jackson was the mystery client, and he wanted the playground for his ‘Heal the World’ foundation. When Michael opened the playground, my mum managed to take a photo of him, sticking his thumbs up at her and the other people to say thank you.
-Hannah Croasdale
Fourteen-year-old Prince, 13-year-old Paris, and 9-year-old Prince Michael II (“Blanket”) Jackson were accompanied by their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, and aunt, LaToya Jackson, as the family donated 10 signed pieces. The children also signed some of them below their father’s name.
The sketches, which depict Mickey Mouse, furniture and other objects, will be displayed throughout the hospital.
La Toya Jackson said she thought the art will bring joy to children at the hospital. “You look at this, it makes you happy,” she said. The pieces of art are “whimsical, they’re magical and there’s just joy and peace.”
