Michelle Obama to donate over $500,000 from her bestselling memoir & support girls' education

Forever first lady Michelle Obama just can't stop giving. Just when you thought she was done, she surprises you with another monumental humanitarian move. In a statement released earlier this week, the bestselling author revealed that she plans on donating over $500,000 earned from the sales of merchandise around blockbuster memoir Becoming to support girls' education across the world, Yahoo! Lifestyle reports. We suppose she's just taking Giving Tuesday quite seriously this year. The generous donation will go towards funding worldwide projects initiated by The Obama Foundation, including specifically a series of projects in South East Asian nation Vietnam.

Obama affirmed in her statement, "Over the past year I’ve been incredibly blessed and humbled by the response to my book, and I’m proud to channel that enthusiasm toward girls around the world. My hope is that this donation will help more bold and brilliant girls reach their fullest potential, continuing upward on their path toward becoming the women they are meant to be." As is now common knowledge, the school and college enrolment rate for girls worldwide, especially in comparison to that of boys', is dismally low. The former first lady's donation could make a big impact and change the inequitable status quo.

Last year, the Obamas' charitable organization The Obama Foundation established the Girls Opportunity Alliance as a way to provide support to international efforts that work towards ensuring more girls have lasting access to education. The Obama Foundation confirmed in a separate statement, "[The donation] will fully fund existing projects that are supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund and fund new projects being released, including a new series of projects being supported by the Fund in Vietnam." In addition to funding this project, Obama will travel to Asia later this month - along with Today Show co-host Jenna Bush Hager, actress Julia Roberts, as well as numerous other celebrities - as part of the foundation’s outreach.

Announcing her large donation on Giving Tuesday, Obama stated, "I’ve always thought of helping others as a responsibility. This duty of giving back is what my parents and grandparents taught me, and it’s a value I’ve tried to live by my entire life - because it’s not enough just to make your way through life, thinking only of yourself." If everyone - especially those with class privilege - were as charitable as our forever first lady, perhaps the world would be a much better place for those in underserved communities. If you'd like to make a positive impact like Obama this Giving Tuesday - so-called as it takes place on the Tuesday right after Thanksgiving and encourages people to be charitable - you can donate to The Obama Foundation here.