Alicia Keys returned to her old high school and surprised students by donating new musical instruments to their arts department today Nov 1 in Manhattan, NYC.

The Grammy-winning singer visited the Professional Performing Arts School and launch an online contest where people can share how they would use $1000 “to make the world a better place.” It is part of the global philanthropic campaign, “World of Betters.”

Greeting a crowd that had gathered in the auditorium for the World of Betters launch, she said, “as a proud graduate of the Professional Performing Arts School, I thought about the students there who are in desperate need of new musical equipment to help them learn their craft. Because right now, my alma mater is underfunded and oversubscribed–and I hope to make this better for them, so they can follow their dreams. As the Co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, I constantly see that there are so many ways the world can be made a better place. That’s why I’m so excited to work on the ‘World of Betters’ initiative and I know for a fact, that there are so many people out there with amazing ideas that can show how even a small change, can make a big impact.”

CLICK HERE to participate in Western Union, “World of Betters” - contest begins next Tuesday and ends Dec. 15 where 100 winners will be announced.