Louis Mariette Climbing Kilimanjaro for Charity

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Now here’s a story for the record books. Some people talk about charity work – some celebrities fork over the cash. But few are willing to sweat and work in such an intense way to help to benefit others.

Louis Mariette, a celebrity fashion designer, has set his sights on Mount Kilimanjaro, pledging to conquer the 5,896 mile mountain for The Children’s Trust. He is vice-president of the organization and has taken on the challenge with eight other trekkers. While not climbing one of the highest mountains in the world, Louis makes headpieces for the likes of Rihanna, Kate Moss and Lady Gaga.

As he said, “I know this will be a challenge, but nothing like the brave children, family, friends and team at the Trust experience every day, so I hope I can do them justice. I know that each step I take on this adventurous mountain will be towards a great cause, especially the more challenging higher segments with steeper parts, snow and altitude.”

The Children’s Trust is a British charity that provides care for severely disabled children. They also have rehabilitation facilities for children with acquired brain injury.

Louis explained a bit more about his goals. As he said,

“Trekking the magnificent mountain will be a dream come true. I am even more excited as I want the flora and fauna of nature to inspire me and on my return to the UK I will specially customize a hat and donate to the Trust to be auctioned. Being born in Malawi, living in Swaziland, Botswana throughout my childhood and going back to Africa to Tanzania will touch my soul and will be an emotional uplifting experience.”

Edward Norton Raises Money with “Words with Friends”

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If you love playing “Words with Friends” then you just might enjoy doing so for charity. Today, you’ll find celebrities like Edward Norton, Jonah Hill and Snoop Dogg enjoying Zynga’s word-building game online.

As Travis Boatman, senior vice president of mobile at Zynga Inc. explained, “We had the idea to do a celebrity tournament some time ago when it became apparent that the game was a hit among celebrities. It seems like everyone from Katie Couric to Snoop Lion is into the game. It’s really inspirational for the team to see how ‘Words With Friends’ has become part of the cultural mainstream, and I think it has struck a chord because it’s not just a game, it’s a way for people to connect and keep in touch with each other.”

Norton will be playing for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Fund and will be competing against such celebrities as Eva Longoria, Kristen Bell and John Legend. They are each going to be aiming for the $500,000 in prize money given by American Express.

Regular people can join in the fun with the celebrities, playing with their favorite star’s team during the competition called the “Words With Friends Celebrity Challenge.”

Taylor Swift Performs New Single at Stand Up to Cancer Telecast

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Friday night saw the 2012 Stand Up To Cancer telecast take place at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. This star-studded event included Sofia Vergara, Chelsea Handler, Eric Stonestreet, Ty Burrell and many others.

One of the most moving tributes given during the event was Taylor Swift’s performance of her new song, Ronan. The song was inspired after Swift read a blog last year about four year old Ronan who was battled cancer, and who died. As the lyrics said, “You were my best four years. I remember your bare feet down the hallway, I love you to the move and back.”

The ultimate goal of Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is to “bring together the best and the brightest in the cancer community, encouraging collaboration instead of competition.” They encourage collaboration, offering financing to multi-disciplinary research teams across the country.

They explain on their website that, “’Dream Teams’ of cancer researchers are already hard at work because of Stand Up To Cancer’s support. A portion of our funds also go to innovative, high-risk, high-reward cancer research being done by individual investigators and their lab teams. This work, which is often not supported by conventional funding sources, has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of cancer patients.”

Real Housewives of New Jersey Star Hosting Autism Evening

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Jacqueline Laurita is finally coming clean to explain why the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” producers have kept Nicholas off of the cameras up until now. Laurita explained that Nocholas was only recently diagnosed during the taping of Season 4 and that his symptoms started to appear around 18 months.

Revealing that he has autism, Laurita is using the revelation as a chance to benefit an autism charity.

Now, she is hosting a charity event for Autism at the Brownstone called the Sparkle Event.  It will include a three course dinner, an open bar and entertainment during the evening. The event will take place at The Brownstone from 7-11 pm on Thursday, September 20th.

The event will benefit Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization founded in 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright.

 

Sean Penn’s J/P HRO Offers to Oversee National Palace Demolition in Haiti

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The Haitian government recently revealed that J/P Haitian Relief Organization, or HRO, a nonprofit aid group founded by actor Sean Penn, has offered to oversee the demolition of the National Palace. The building was damaged in the 2010 earthquake, and has been slowly collapsing ever since. Government officials have been working from a small police station as well as a few impromptu buildings on the Palace grounds.

Lucien Jura, a government spokesman, explained that the project would begin in ten days’ time. J/P HRO has not asked for any payment, despite the fact that the demolition will take at least two months.

“Amb. Penn mentioned that his organization could provide the engineers and equipment to do the demolition at no cost to the government,” Jura said.

Penn’s foundation believes that the project symbolizes a turning point for Haiti and its nation. The demolition team will work alongside the government as well as a department responsible for preserving historical monuments, aiming to combine construction machines and hands-on work to preserve and restore certain parts of the complex.

“It’s an important project, an important step for the government, for Haiti, for the people of Haiti to move on,” said Ron Baldwin, executive director of J/P HRO.

Know Your Score Celebrity Golf Tournament with Julius “Dr. J” Erving

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The Project to End Prostate Cancer is thrilled that Julius “Dr. J” Erving is now scheduled to attend the Know Your Score Celebrity Golf Tournament and Gala that will take place at Pawleys Plantation on August 18th. Erving will be joined by baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and former NFL stars Lynn Swann, Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Richard Dent.

The event will be the fifth annual Know Your Score Celebrity Golf Tournament and Gala and all proceeds will benefit ZERO – The Project to End Prostate Cancer.

The event includes teams of four, who pay $2000 a team to join. Almost all of the teams are projected to have a celebrity with them this year. The celebrity host will be NBA player Gus Williams.

As tournament director and Zero Director of Marketing and Communications Heath Carter said,

“The longer it goes the more people hear about it, and it’s easier for us to get people to commit when they know people who were here in the past. Plus having Gus Williams as our celebrity host has helped. We already have people that have committed to return next year.”

For the price of the $2000entry fee, each time will receive a table of eight for the post-tournament gala. The gala will include a cocktail reception, dinner, performances by Branford Marsalis, and the emcee by Mitch Laurance with athletes discussing topics and answering questions.

The 300 seat event is nearly sold out for this year. As Carter said, looking to the future, “Next year we’re hoping to open it up to the community on a limited basis, probably sell a limited amount of tickets.”

Win a Dinner with Ian Somerhalder

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Some lucky person is soon going to be lunching with actor Ian Somerhalder. He just closed an auction as part of the charity appeal he’s created for his animal sanctuary. As part of his Ian Somerhalder Foundation, the rescue center helps abused animals, works on environmental issues and more.

As it describes at the website for the Ian Somerhalder Foundation,

“The global problems and challenges we are facing are infinitely interconnected and co-dependent, therefore our solutions and actions must be enacted in an interconnected manner. There are numerous causes, many campaigns and organizations aiming to encourage change, which includes ending deforestation, planting trees, eliminating pesticides and healing our planet. How many of these organizations or campaigns team up to become a united spirit of change?”

The auction at CharityBuzz.com ran until July 18th. Now, some lucky person will be able to have lunch in Atlanta, Georgia with the Vampire Diaries heart-throb.

As Somerhalder explained his motivation for the project, “There are too many animals that are abused, mistreated, and abandoned. They’ve been ostracised, they have behavioural issues, and they’re starving. It’s just unbelievable what we’ve done to the animals, and I think that’s why this is so important. I appreciate you and your generosity. I will try not to bore you to tears…”

“If we can give animals a home, we can also take the youth of our country and our world – kids who have behavioral issues, bullying other kids, and halting the progression of those around them – and bring them together to learn compassion from one another. If you have compassion for an animal, then you’ll ultimately have compassion for another human being.”

NE-YO Charity Event Honors George Lucas

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NE-YO and George Lucas

Last week, NE-YO and Arsenio Hall hosted the Annual “Fostering A Legacy” Benefit for NE-YO’s charity, the Compound Foundation.  The event took place at an East Hampton estate of CEO Bill Nuti and his wife Michele.

The event raised over $150,000 to design programs and events for children in foster care and group homes. It will also help with The Compound Foundation’s Giving Tour that occurred last December and with their Future CEO Academy program.

The Compound Foundation, founded in 2007 by NE-YO and Reynell Hay helps children in foster care and group home placements by encouraging entrepreneurship and empowering them to control their own destinies.

The event included a cocktail hour, a private dinner and auction (of NE-YO’s hat and other items) and a performance by NE-YO. In attendance were Russell Simmons, Andre Agassi, Paula Abdul, Adrienne Bailon, Anthony Anderson and Jason Kidd. George Lucas was honored at the event for his support of children in foster care (he has three adopted children).

Charlie Sheen Offering Large Charitable Contribution to USO

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It’s nice to see that even crazy celebrities can make a difference. Charlie Sheen, who just recently made news when he turned off his Twitter account with millions of followers, is now in the headlines for a good reason. He has pledged to give at least $1 million to military charity United Services Organization program that help hurt and sick soldiers and their families.

It’s hard to believe that this amount is only 1% of the profits he gets from his new show Anger Management. He reports that, should the show be a great hit, the USO may receive even more. At the moment, he’s given the charity an initial donation of $250,000.

In a statement Sheen said,

“It’s an honor for me to be able to give back to these men and women of the military who have done so much for all of us. They put their lives on the line for us every day, and I’m just happy that my work on Anger Management can bring a little bit of relief to the troops and their families.”

The spokesman for USO agrees. As he said, “the way we lift the spirits of the families and troops is through generous donations from the American public. It is heart-warming to me to see how the American people support the troops whether it’s 25 cents or $25 or $250,000.”

Gates Foundation Puts Birth Control at Top of Its Priority List

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Bill and Melinda Gates are able to put significant sums of money towards causes of their choosing. For the last 15 years, they have been working to create and distribute vaccines in under privileged areas of the world through their Gates Foundation.

Now, Melinda Gates has recently announced that they plan to put birth control on their international agenda by making it her signature issue. This week, the Gates Foundation and the British government plan to convene a summit of world leaders in London. Their goal is to raise $4 billion to offer contraceptives to another 120 million women in the poorest of countries.

A Catholic, Melinda understands that her efforts are going to pit her against the Catholic Church. She is trying to explain her goals and diffuse that controversy. When she kicked off her initiative at the Berlin TEDxChange talk, she explained that,

“We’re not talking about abortion. We’re not talking about population control. What I’m talking about is giving women the power to save their lives, to save their children’s lives and to give their families the best possible future.”

The Catholic world has accused Belinda of mounting a “blatant attack on Catholic sexual morality.” The Gates Foundation has created a website where they are asking people to share their personal stories about birth control and offer their support to the effort.