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Simmons will be in Palm Beach on Saturday for the third annual Art for Life Palm Beach Gala at Casa Vita Serena. Proceeds from the gala support art programs for disadvantaged youth in Palm Beach County and New York City through Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.

Each year the event honors celebrities who give time and money to charitable causes. This year's honorees are Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris, the Miami Heat's Alonzo Mourning and his wife, Tracy, and Jones New York founder Rena Rowan Damone.

In the last two years, the gala has raised about $600,000 for after-school programs around the county. This year, funds will benefit groups including Bak Middle School for the Arts; Street Beat, a mentoring program for youth by youth in the Glades; and New Hope Charities. That organization's hope is that more than 50 children from low-income families in Pahokee can learn about art and culture worldwide.

"It's really hard to get funding for arts-related programs," said Jody Dragon, foundation administrator at Bak Middle School, which used last year's grant to help at-risk students pull up their grades through an after-school arts program. "Through the program, about 42 kids participated and they all improved, some drastically. They're doing well in their classes and enjoying something special after school."

Simmons said he wanted to provide urban youths with access to the arts through his foundation. He said the arts could transform lives, just as they did for him.

Simmons, 50, grew up in a middle-class home in Queens and flirted with gangs until he got a taste of rap music. He became a concert promoter and eventually formed rap's legendary '80s group Run-DMC. He then became co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam. He is now the head of Russell Simmons Music Group and creator of Phat Farm, an urban clothing line and $140 million business.

Michele McGrew, at New Hope Charities, wants children to create positive things through the arts: "We want our kids to learn about different communities around the world, learn about their music, their artwork, their dance."

"Every time we've called Ludacris for something philanthropic he never says no. He has his own foundation and he works very hard at it," Simmons said.

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