What is the Poussey Washington Fund in Orange is the New Black's season 7 finale? Is it a real charity?
The show's creators have set up a crowdsourcing campaign to support criminal justice reform and immigrants' rights charities
Netflix's Orange is the New Black may be over, but it has one final act of goodwill left up its sleeve before it disappears off our screens forever.
The series finale broke the fourth wall to introduce a real-life crowdsourcing campaign to help ex-convicts readjust to life in the outside world, named after Samira Wiley's character Poussey Washington, who was killed by a Correctional Officer in season four of the show.
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Here's everything we know about The Poussey Washington Fund.
What is the Poussey Washington Fund? Is it a real charity?
In the series finale, Taystee (Danielle Brooks) sets up a fund in her friend's name to provide micro-loans to ex-convicts in their first few months after leaving prison and help them readjust to life on the outside.
After the drama fades to orange for the final time, a card displays information on the real-life Poussey Washington Fund, providing a number that people can text (41411) and a website – crowdrise.com/pwf – where viewers can go for more information.
The initiative supports eight pre-existing non-profit advocacy groups with a focus on criminal justice reform, immigrants' rights, ending mass incarceration and supporting women affected by it, according to Netflix.
Those groups are: A New Way of Life: Reentry Project, Anti Recidivism Coalition, College & Community Fellowship, Freedom For Immigrants, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Woman and Girls, unPrison Project, Women’s Prison Association.
Any donations to The Poussey Washington Fund will be evenly distributed between the eight organisations.
"Through the Poussey Washington Fund, our characters can live on and continue to make an impact after the show has come to an end," said OITNB creator Jenji Kohan in a statement. "Taystee recognised an opportunity to make a difference for her fellow inmates, and we saw no reason why we couldn’t launch our own initiative to have an effect in the real world."
How can I donate to the Poussey Washington Fund?
Visit crowdrise.com/pwf to donate.
US viewers can text 41411 to find out more about donations.
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