Meryl Streep donates $10,000 to Viola Davis' R.I. Upward Bound scholarship fund

Actress Viola Davis, left, congratulates Meryl Streep, winner of the Best Actress Award for "The Iron Lady," during the 84th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2012, in Hollywood, Calif.

/ Kevin Winter/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) Actress Meryl Streep has donated $10,000 to a Rhode Island Upward Bound scholarship fund in honor of fellow actress Viola Davis, who established the fund with her sister in 1988.

Both Streep and Davis were nominated for the best actress Oscar this year, but Streep ended up winning the award for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."

Pictures: Meryl Streep
Pictures: Viola Davis

The check for the Upward Bound Scholarship Endowmnet Fund arrived Monday, the program's director Mariam Boyajian said Thursday. Boyajian says the donation from Streep's Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts is the largest single award the fund has received.

The Segue Institute for Learning in Central Falls, where Davis grew up, also received $10,000 from Streep on Monday in honor of "The Help" actress.

Boyajian says Davis and her sister, Deloris Grant, both graduated from the Upward Bound program.

Streep and  Davis starred  together  in the 2008 religious drama "Doubt, " which netted  Oscar nominations for both Streep and  Davis, the former as best actress and  the latter as  best supporting actress.

[achememnon]

I think Meryl streep is a excellent actress who will always be able to win Oscar, I have always enjoyed everything she has acted in and Davis deserved an award also for her character in The Help which I enjoyed immensely. So what that Streep gave money to Davis's charity its her money and she is entitled to give to whoever she wants to give it to and no one put a gun to her head to do it. The only people bringing race into this are the ignorant people in this blog, who hate that the character that Davis protrayed in the Help showed a time in American history that was almost as full of hate as whats in their heart.

[credibility2]

I'm sure had Davis won the Oscar that she wouldn't have bothered donating to one of Streep's causes. It is disgusting that race was a driving force for the top two women's statues. Streep was a superior actress to Davis and people should just get over it. Streep owes no one no apologies, like she did at the ceremony and she most definitely shouldn't caved into social pressures of donating to one of Davis' causes. It's silly.

[w_roos]

$10K? So what. I could almost afford to donate that much.