He may be stuck behind bars for another Christmas, but that didn't stop Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight from getting in the holiday spirit.

The imprisoned hip-hop exec, who is serving a nine-year sentence on a probation violation, donated $21,000 last week to rebuild a Sacramento, California, playground for children from low-income families.

Knight's check will help replace a jungle gym with carousels, swings and monkey bars that was destroyed by vandals who set it on fire last month.

"I saw a report about it on local TV," Knight said in a statement. "A playground is the only safe place for kids to play and then somebody comes along and destroys it. A senseless crime that hurts little kids. I called Death Row Records in Los Angeles, told them to find out the cost to rebuild the playground and cut a check to cover it."

Death Row wrote Knight's check to the Hillsdale Early Head Start Program in Sacramento, part of Sacramento County's Head Start program. The organization provides child-development services for low-income families, with that particular division serving infants to preschool-age children. Representatives at the program told Death Row spokesperson Jonathan Wolfson that replacing the equipment would cost $10,000 for the jungle gym and $10,625 for the protective rubber padding.

"For us, it was very touching that from where he was at, he saw what happened and it impacted him," Brenda Flores, a Head Start manager, said. "[Death Row] asked if we would take the donation, and we said, 'Of course.' I know there's a lot of controversy regarding him, but what he did was a kind gesture. This really goes along with the Christmas season."

Flores said children in the program will make Knight a thank-you card and send it along with pictures of the new playground, which is expected to be rebuilt by the end of January.

Knight, who was raised in Compton, California, related to what happened to the children, Wolfson told Flores. "He was raised in the same environment that the children who we serve live in," Flores said. "This obviously struck a nerve with him."

Knight co-founded Death Row Records with Dr. Dre in 1992, and the label began a gangsta-rap empire with such landmark albums as Dre's The Chronic and protégé Snoop Doggy Dogg's 1993 debut, Doggystyle.

Dre left the label in 1996, and Snoop departed two years later, signing with No Limit/Priority and changing his name to Snoop Dogg. A series of blows for Death Row followed, including the death of its other major star, Tupac Shakur, in a 1996 drive-by shooting. Knight is serving time for his involvement in a beating outside a Las Vegas hotel just hours before Shakur's death, violating his probation on an earlier assault charge. He's eligible for parole in April.

Troubles for Death Row continued earlier this month when No Limit/Priority said it would take legal action against the label for posting Snoop's latest album, Tha Last Meal, on its official Web site, two weeks before its December 19 release. Though Knight said in a statement that Death Row posted the album because it still has a vested financial interest in Snoop, Dre accused the label of "hatin' to the highest power."

(Click [article id="1438616"]HERE[/article] for a complete explanation of the charges in the case. Click [article id="1439236"]HERE[/article] for our complete trial coverage.)