"My dad did some cool things, but his biggest passion was helping others."
Prince Michael Jackson was honored with the Motif Lifetime Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest honor in youth advocacy, on Sunday at the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, ET has exclusively learned.
The 21-year-old called the award -- which he received for his charity, Heal Los Angeles -- "an incredible honor" in his acceptance speech, before using much of his remaining time to pay tribute to his late father, Michael Jackson.
"This is a really special moment for me. My dad did some cool things, but his biggest passion was helping others," Prince said. "I learned how important that was from him. We called the foundation Heal L.A., because the goal was to further the cause of dad’s Heal the World organization and start locally by helping out at home."
The foundation, Prince explained, works to improve conditions in L.A. The idea for the charity came from Prince's college friend, John Muto, who was inspired by the late King of Pop's philanthropic work.
"John and I got together with a few of our friends at school and decided to do little things to help out," Prince said. "All of a sudden, it just got bigger and bigger. We were giving more and hosting more events, and all of these amazing people started helping."
He ended his speech with a promise that he's "not going to stop," before declaring, "Let's heal L.A. and Heal the World."
Back in 2016, ET caught up with Prince, where he said that he thinks his father "would be very happy" with his charitable efforts.
"Our generation, they focus on the wrong things, like, 'Who's wearing what? Who's doing what? Who's vacationing where?' There are real problems going on in the world that can be helped not by powerful people but by everyday people who just go in and devote their time," he said at the time. "You should be decent enough to help out or want to help out your fellow man or woman."
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