Jennie Garth Joins Auction for Autism Speaks

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Jennie GarthJennie Garth just joined the long line up of famous people helping out with Lindt’s fourth GOLD BUNNY Celebrity Auction. 97 celebrities in total from Celine Dion to Blake Lively will be helping to raise money for autism causes. Fans can big on the celebrity-signed porcelain Lindt GOLD BUNNY figures by going to LindtGOLDBUNNYAuction.com until March 15th.

100% of the proceeds from the auction help Autism Speaks.

As Garth said about her participation, “I’m truly excited to help kick off the Lindt GOLD BUNNY Celebrity Auction to raise funds for a cause that affects so many children. As a mother of three daughters, I look forward to special moments in life, and combining our Easter traditions with giving back is the perfect way to celebrate this spring.”

As Thomas Linemayr, president and CEO of Lindt USA said, “Lindt is thrilled to have raised raise more than $600,000 for the autism cause over the course of our five year partnership with Autism Speaks. We are thankful for strong celebrity community support, which has helped make the auction an overwhelming success. We are especially excited to have Jennie Garth join us this year to launch the Auction and raise even more funds for the cause.”

One Billion Rising Rises on Valentine’s Day

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obr-homeValentine’s Day ended up being a day to take a stand, rather than just a day to show love. Activist Eve Ensler launched One Billion Rising a year ago, with the plan to get a billion people around the world to take action to end violence against women. She was hoping to create a specific dance that would be performed globally on February 14, 2013.

As she explained to The Guardian, “Think of how, when I have spoken out about the women and girls who have been raped in Congo’s 13-year war for minerals to parliaments around the world, I have often been cautioned that my language is inflammatory or extreme, when in fact I have not come close to finding the words with which to express the horrors I have heard and witnessed.”

There were thousands of events in over 200 countries on the 14th which included flash mobs, parties and more. The event was endorsed by the UN, prime ministers and celebrities. As Robert Redford explained, “One billion women and young girls will be raped or beaten in their lifetime. I am one of the billion rising to help stop violence against women. Statistics tell us that one in three women will become victims to violence, but it is not a women’s issue. It’s a global crisis. One billion rising is the movement that seeks to put an end to violence against women.”
Similarly, actor and activist Jane Fonda showed her support. She said, “I’m rising because my mother was sexually abused when she was eight years old and it damaged her life forever. She was never able to really love or to not feel guilty. She killed herself when she was 42 and those two things are related. I’m rising because I work with young girls, most of whom are poor, most of whom have been victims of sexual abuse, and I’m rising because I’m over it. We have to stop violence against women. And when that happens, everything in the world will change.”

Bruce Willis Helps the Boot Campaign

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motorcycleBruce Willis is helping out the charity Boot Campaign in a rather unusual and creative way. Two months ago, he donated a 2005 Ducati 1000DS motorcycle which sold for $6250. Now, he’s offered up a 1988 Yamaha TW that is valued at $1400. The bidding had reached $1450 on February 8th with just three bidders fighting it out for the bike.

Boot Campaign released this statement from Bruce Willis, “I wanted to use my bikes in a way that would benefit our military service members, and I am thankful to have found the Boot Campaign as the catalyst for using my bikes in a way that will give back to our country’s true heroes.” He continued, “These bikes have been a lot of fun to ride, and my hope is they can do a lot of good for our veterans.”

Boot Campaign will be auctioning off his five bikes in two month intervals. The next bikes up will be the 1962 Cushman Eagle and then the 1991 Yamaha XT. The last auction will be in August with his 1972 H-D Ironhead Sportster XLH.

Scientific Approach to Dealing with Hunger

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hungerIn the spirit of using his business acumen in his role as philanthropist, John Arnold gave a generous donation to setting up the Houston Food Bank.  Through the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Houston Food Bank received $10m grant so the facility could actually be constructed.  However, it was given with the understanding that officials there consider ways of using its system to tackle larger issues of poverty, unemployment and chronic health.  In addition, Arnold found it interesting that data from the food bank showed that most of its end users were actually not derelict and had places to live.  However, in times of fiscal difficulties, they chose to pay rent rather than use the money for food, resulting in hunger.  Thus the hunger in these cases was actually caused by unemployment – an issue Arnold found the Houston Food Bank was failing to address.

Today, when John Arnold donates funds, he does so through a “scientific” approach.  This makes sense given his success as a trader at Enron and then later, as founder of Centaurus. Maura Daly, Chief Development Officer of Feeding America, is impressed with the way John Arnold is using the scientific approach developed as a trader, to donate monies.  He says, “the great thing about the Arnolds is that they are not thinking small.  Most billionaires don’t have the luxury of putting forty years into solving a problem.”

John Arnold pushed CEO and President of the Houston Food Bank, Brian Greene to try to figure out a way to help the poor access other essential services to ultimately prevent the need for the food.  For example, perhaps job-training could be given?  Or, a way of getting healthier like programs to manage Type 2 Diabetes to stop individuals ending up with chronic health problems and not being able to work thus leading to inadequate financial resources with which to buy food.  In other words, Arnold works on a systematic approach to philanthropy.

Meet Pete Townshend & Benefit the Children’s Defense Fund

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peteIf you’re a fan of The Who, this might be your big chance to enjoy seeing them. CharityBuzz.com is auctioning off your chance to meet Pete Townshend and to get four great seats to The Who concert on February 21 in New York at the Nassau Coliseum. The auction benefits the Children’s Defense Fund.

As stated at CharityBuzz, “The mission of the Children’s Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown.”

Being part of the auction means that you can support a worthy cause and get to meet a legend at the same time!

Taylor Swift Named 2012 Most Charitable Celebrity

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taylor swift 1She may have trouble in love, but she’s doing right by those in need. Taylor Swift was just recently named the most charitable celebrity of 2012. The 23 year old country music singer received the award by DoSomething.org, which just released its top 20 Celebs Gone Good of 2012 awards.

Swift was recognized for donating $4 million to the Country Hall of Fame museum and for being the youngest recipient of the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for her charity work.

Taking second place was Miley Cyrus. She was recognized for her work with the non-profit animal activist group Saving Spot! Rescue. Third on the list was Channing Tatum who was given a nod for his work with the Rainforest Foundation. Lady Gaga received kudos as the forth place winner and Justin Bieber got the fifth spot for his work with Pencils of Promise and his Believe Charity Drive.

Way to Go Angie Harmon!

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harmonUNICEF has just announced that actress Angie Harmon will now be their official face, and the new UNICEF Ambassador. Her first role as the new ambassador will be in a Public Service Announcement that she’s making to raise awareness about child trafficking and urge Americans to be part of the solution.

These 15, 30 and 60 second PSAs will air this month, which is Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

As Harmon said, “After learning about the horrifying practice of child trafficking both in the United States and abroad, I knew I had to do something about it. That’s what drew me to UNICEF. I believe that ZERO children should be forced into prostitution or made to work, especially at dangerous jobs. I look forward to working with UNICEF to help reach a day when every child has a safe and healthy childhood.”

As Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, recently said, “We’re thrilled to have Angie Harmon join our efforts to help ensure the health, education, equality and protection of every child.”

Angie Harmon will be in very good company as the new Ambassador. Past Ambassadors have included: Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Fishburne, Selena Gomez, Alyssa Milano and Sarah Jessica Parker.

“12-12-12” Benefits Hurricane Sandy Victims

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On December 12th, Madison Square Garden hosted “12-12-12”, a fundraising event aimed at supporting victims of Hurricane Sandy. The concert featured performances by Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Who and many others.

The concert was presented by Chase, with the proceeds sent to the Robin Hood Relief Fund. Robin Hood, an independent poverty-fighting organization founded by Paul Tudor Jones II, donates 100% of its proceeds to charity.

The concert was produced by Madison Square Garden Executive Director James Dolan, Clear Channel Entertainment Enterprises President John Sykes, and The Weinstein Company Co-Founder and Chairman Harvey Weinstein.

 

 

Buy the Voice of God for Charity : Only $299!

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Autism Speaks recently held a brilliant year-end fundraising campaign. They offered supporters the chance to buy custom-recorded messages from celebrities like Tom Hanks, Ed Asner, Will Ferrell, Carrie Fisher, Derek Jeter, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Betty White and Morgan Freeman.

One of the fastest selling items, according to Marc Sirkin, the charity’s chief digital marketing officer, was the Morgan Freeman recording, as his deep voice has earned him the nickname “Voice of God.” The campaign ran for the first week of December only, and anyone who wanted a voicemail greeting from a star could donate $299 to Autism Speaks. Each celebrity message was limited to 50 people. When a message was purchased, the fan was able to tailor a script for the celebrity to say, as long as it didn’t include any advertising. Each celebrity had final approval of the messages.

When the campaign ended, 346 of the possible 500 messages were sold. They raised $103,000 for Autism Speaks. Hear more from Austism Speaks about this campaign.

See more with their video for the campaign.

Ideas for Charitable Giving to Education

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classSometimes, even if you have the time or money to dedicate towards helping others, you just don’t know where to begin. It’s ironic that we often end up doing nothing simply because we don’t have direction for our efforts. For people who are interested in improving educational opportunities for children in America and around the world, there are certainly thousands of resources.

One way to help children and to impact educational services is to think small. Talk to a local school and see what needs they have in the library. You might start a few magazine subscriptions from National Publishers Exchange or another company and have those educational magazines sent to the library each month. Turtle magazine, for instance, helps early readers and can be sent by National Publishers Exchange each month.

For people who want to send money somewhere or do something more global, here are just three of the thousands of possibilities to give you a taste of the choices for charitable giving.

1. Aura’s House: This is a grassroots project that raises money for housing, health, income generation and educational projects for children in developing countries. since 2003, they have been working with Children International.

2. ClassWish: This is a nonprofit organization that addresses the shortage of teaching supplies by allowing teachers, administrators and others to go to ClassWish.org and create Wish Lists of the items they need for their classes. People can then pitch in to help with the needs that the school identifies.

3. Say Yes to Education, Inc.: This is a United States non-profit that wants to improve inner-city schools. They offer support services at at-risk locations and pledge full scholarships for college or vocational education for children living in poverty.