Mark Zuckerberg

Happy holidays from Facebook! The company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently donated $500 million worth of Facebook stock to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, with the hopes that the funds will be applied to education and health programs, NBC News said Wednesday.

Zuckerberg said that the $500 million was donated in an effort to "lay the foundation for new projects" and hopes that Facebook, itself, will have "as positive an impact" in through its own future projects. This isn't the first time the young CEO has donated to charity. He gave $100 million to the city of Newark, New Jersey to benefit schools in the area two years ago.

His full Facebook update detailing the donation is as follows:

Two years ago, Priscilla and I signed The Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of the money we earn to charity.

Our first major project has been around education reform with Startup: Education in Newark, NJ. I'm really proud of the work we've done there, helping leaders like Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Cory Booker sign the most progressive teachers contract in our country, opening four new district high schools, 11 new charter schools and more.

Today, in order to lay the foundation for new projects, we've made a contribution of 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Together, we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next. I'm hopeful we'll be able to have as positive an impact in our next set of projects.