Back in November Rush was announced as the 2017 recipient of the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award. The band will be honored for their achievements and longstanding career in the music industry, social activism and support of humanitarian causes at the annual Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards Gala Dinner at the Sheraton Centre next Thursday, April 20th. Billboard posted an article yesterday highlighting the Award and Rush's many charitable endeavors over the years titled Why Rush Might Be the Most Generous Band In the World. The article includes these comments from Geddy Lee:

"They're giving us an award for doing what everyone should do," Geddy Lee tells Billboard. "It should be a part of everyone's upbringing and routine of life: You share when you've been blessed with good fortune. The world needs a lot of work, and there are not enough workers. We try to help where we can."

Recipients of the award are also given $40,000 to be donated to their charity of choice, and Rush will be donating their prize to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. The article goes on to highlight some of the band's more high profile charitable actions of the past several years including their 2008 donation of $100,000 to the Make It Right Foundation to help New Orleans rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, their $100,000 contribution from a Winnipeg concert to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the $575,000 they raised for southern Alberta flood relief in 2013, and the estimated $2 million the band has raised since 2010 by donating $1 from every concert ticket sold to various organizations, including Doctors Without Borders.