By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

Over the course of her near-20 year career Mariah Carey has been very generous on the philanthropic front. For her efforts -- particularly with the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, the top-selling pop/R&B diva will be feted along with President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at an exclusive, star-studded gala at New York's Lincoln Center on Sept. 20.

Since 1997, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation has successfully restored and sustained instrumental music programs in 1,500 public schools in over 100 cities around the country. To date, The Foundation has provided million in new musical instruments, affecting the lives of more than 1 million students.

Carey has been participatory in aiding the foundation's goal for the past decade -- dating all the way back to 1998 (when she joined the likes of Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain, Aretha Franklin and Celine Dion as performers for the very first 'Divas Live' showcase) up to last year's donation of her Escada dress (she wore in an Intel Cenrtino ad campaign) for auction.

"We at The VH1 Save The Music Foundation are thrilled to be honoring Mariah Carey at our 10th anniversary celebration," director Paul Cothran told The BV Newswire today. "It would be hard to look back on the past ten years and recount each of our triumphs and successes without recalling individuals such as Mariah that have donated so much of their time and efforts to restoring music education programs across the country."