Look To The Stars News: Maria Sharapova

Antonio Banderas Named As United Nations Goodwill Ambassador

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:30:00 -0000

The United Nations Development Programme has announced that Antonio Banderas will be its new Goodwill Ambassador for the fight against poverty.

“Poverty robs us of our potential as a people, preventing us from being all that we can be,” said Banderas. “This is why it is so important to mobilize all of our efforts to defeat it, especially if today we have the knowledge, the tools and the resources to do it.”

In his new role as an advocate for the poor, Antonio Banderas will set his sights on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), a set of eight globally agreed targets that seek to halve world poverty by 2015 by combating hunger, disease, illiteracy, environment degradation and discrimination against women.

UNDP Administrator and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark said she looks forward to Antonio Banderas raising awareness globally on issues related to combatting poverty, particularly the MDGs.

“UNDP is pleased to have Antonio join our group of Goodwill Ambassadors,” she said. “His proven commitment to the causes of the less fortunate makes him an ideal advocate for our work.”

Banderas will also raise awareness globally of the activities of the MDG Achievement Fund, an international cooperation mechanism whose aim is to accelerate progress on the MDGs.

Banderas, who is a passionate football fan, said he is thrilled to join sports champions and UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors Didier Drogba, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane in their work with the organization. Other UNDP Goodwill Amabassadors include tennis star Maria Sharapova, Japanese actress Misako Kono and Crown Prince Khaakon Magnus of Norway.

Celebrity Signed Heels for Wish Upon a Hero Foundation

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:50:00 -0000

Step into designer shoes signed by Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, Martina McBride, Bethenny Frankel, Estelle and Emme for the Heroes in Heels auction.

More are being added to the list, too – Keep an eye out for shoes signed by Ali Larter, Brooke Burke, Susan Lucci, Laura Bryna, Sherri Sheppherd, Reba McEntire, Maria Sharapova, Natalie Distler, Miley Cyrus, Nancy Wilson, Kimberly Caldwell and Colbie Caillat.

The Wish Upon A Hero Foundation created the Hero In Heels program to benefit women affected by cancer.

Hero in Heels is an annual fashion show held every spring where famous women donate a signed pair of shoes for the auction. The money raised from the auction and from corporate sponsorships benefit women who are suffering with cancer. It’s great publicity for a great cause.

Step forward and make a difference in someone’s life. The online portion of Hero In Heels is now open. The auction runs from March 1, 2010 to April 8, 2010, with the live event taking place on April 8, 2010. Online bidding closes at 9pm.

Full auction details can be found at BiddingForGood.com

Tennis Pros Tutor Teens

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:31:00 -0000

Kids in NY were treated to tips from tennis stars Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in NY last week.

Fans and youth from New York Junior Tennis League, Athletes for Charity, New York City Parks Foundation and Mentoring USA were on hand to learn from the pros at Nike’s 2009 unveiling of the US Open’s ‘look’.

“This is an exciting opportunity to bring the thrill of the US Open directly to tennis fans in New York,” said tennis icon John McEnroe. “Providing a platform for kids to experience the beauty and power of this game and meet their tennis icons is incredible.”

A temporary court was set up for the event at 23rd Street and Broadway, where a youth representative from each organization returned balls from a tennis simulator set to mimic pro shots. The representative who performed best was granted a donation for their local group.

Andy Murray Grants Wish For Sick Teens

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Two tennis-mad teenagers have had their wish granted to attend The Championships at Wimbledon – and they met Andy Murray too!

The UK Make-A-Wish Foundation hosted two children from overseas when tennis fans 17 year old Christine McLinn, from Wisconsin, USA and Thys Kroezen, aged 15 and from the Netherlands, had their life-time wish granted to come to England and see a tennis match at the world famous Wimbledon tournament.

Christine is fighting Hodgkin’s disease and has played tennis since she was six years old. She has an expert knowledge on anything to do with tennis and her favourite female player is Serena Williams. She has had to endure chemotherapy, but she surprised medical experts by managing to win a local tennis championship within a few weeks of receiving the treatment.

Thys is fighting Osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer – but despite having to have his left arm amputated due to his illness, he is still a keen tennis player.

The pair and their families were treated to Centre Court seats all day, where they were able to see matches featuring Maria Sharapova vs Gisela Dulko, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs Roger Federer and Sam Querry vs Marin Cilic.

Then there was a big surprise in store for the two teenagers, as they were lucky enough to have a VIP meeting with the UK’s number one tennis player, Andy Murray. They chatted for around half an hour about tennis and then Andy – showing great kindness in spending time with Thys and Christine during the first week of Wimbledon, the premier tournament of the year – presented them with signed T-shirts and had photographs taken with them.

Christine’s mother Cynthia said of the wish: “It has been one of the most exciting days of our lives and particularly for Christine because tennis got her through chemotherapy, and that makes it all the more touching.”

Thys’s mother said: “It was a most fantastic day. Lots of nice unexpected things happened and Make-A-Wish in Holland and their British colleagues made our wish possible after a long and difficult year for our family. Now Thys can start his ‘normal’ life again next week.”

GOSH, What Auctions!

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:26:00 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

The Great Ormond Street Hospital is set to benefit from many current and recent celebrity charity auctions, including a date with Orlando Bloom, which brought in £9,000 ($14,600) just last week.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star was on hand at the Victoria and Albert museum with Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton, British TV presenter Vernon Kay and Jade Jagger to help raise over £450,000 ($730,000) for the children’s charity.

Hamilton and other F1 stars, such as Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel, Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen have all signed unique displays for an auction benefitting the children’s hospital. The auction will run at Starcards.org until June 30th.

And, starting today, tennis fans can also visit Starcards.org to bid on the only WTA Tour No.1 Jersey signed by nine former World Number one’s, including Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, Justine Henin, Tracy Austin and Maria Sharapova. Also up for grabs are Serena Williams signed designer Nike shoes, and 30 other items. This auction runs until July 5th.

As if that wasn’t enough, also currently on the auction block is an exclusive signed collector’s image from Empire’s 20th Birthday Portfolio which captures Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. To bid, visit EmpireOnline.com.

The Great Ormond Street Hospitall (GOSH) was the first hospital in the UK dedicated to children, and since its start in 1852, its pioneering work has caught the attention of many well-known people. Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens and author J M Barrie – who donated the copyright to his famous play Peter Pan – were among the first to pledge their support. More recently, Johnny Depp became a supporter of the hospital, after the staff counted his daughter into the more than 100,000 children treated there annually – children who are suffering from the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions.

To learn more about how you can support GOSH, visit gosh.org.

A Game, A Dress, And A Brawl For Charity

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:29:30 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A special surprise for Look to the Stars readers

Be sure to visit Look To The Stars tomorrow, Wednesday March 12, to read our exclusive interview with Leeza Gibbons as she tells us a little about the causes that are closest to her heart.

Between a Rock and a hard place

It’s a case of a bad boy wanting to be good with singer Kid Rock. The Devil Without A Cause looks like he is turning over a new leaf, and is returning to the Waffle House restaurant where he was arrested last year – but this time it’s for charity.

The 37-year-old was charged with battery after a brawl in Duluth, Georgia, in October. But the musician has now decided to make amends by greeting fans and signing autographs at the scene of the crime as part of a fundraiser for a local homeless shelter, Nicholas House.

“For a while now, we’ve been working with Kid Rock’s management to try and turn a negative into a positive,” said Waffle House spokesperson Pat Warner. “We’re hoping to raise some money for a worthwhile charity.”

The event will occur later today, March 11.

Tennis for charity in the desert

Another event taking place today is the fourth annual K-Swiss Desert Smash Charity Tennis and Golf event being held at the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs. The event benefits the Coachella Valley chapter of Variety - The Children's Charity and features a special tennis match between 2008 Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic.

Other celebrities expected to attend include Bush frontman (and husband of Gwen Stefani) Gavin Rossdale, Borat star Ken Davitian, and David Spade.

Theron shares her threads for charity

Another star in the mood for giving is the stunning Charlize Theron, who is auctioning off the first red carpet gown she was ever given to wear by a designer.

No, the dress isn’t made from red carpet – it’s actually a one-of-a-kind silk dress designed exclusively for the actress’ debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000 by Narciso Rodriguez.

All of the proceeds from the auction, which can be accessed through Theron’s eBay page, will go to the Charlize Theron African Outreach Project, a mobile clinic that serves more than 3000 high school students in Theron’s home country of South Africa. The project was launched in 2007 in association with the Entertainment Industry Foundation to create a safer, healthier, and better life for families in South Africa, especially those touched by the effect of HIV/AIDS.

The auction runs until March 13, and the bids have already gone over $1,000.

Other auctions running on eBay Giving Works right now include the chance to have lunch with JAG and Bruce Almighty star Catherine Bell in LA. The auction runs until March 17, and proceeds go to Communities in Schools, nation’s largest dropout prevention organization. The original Hannah Montana_, Miley Ray Cyrus, is also holding an auctionW0QQitemZ260217660695QQihZ016QQcategoryZ61QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QqcmdZViewItem right now. The young star is selling an autographed chair, with proceeds to go to Variety - The Children's Charity.

Leona Lewis – a star on the rise

Another star with an interest in South Africa at the moment is singer Leona Lewis. The 22-year-old X Factor winner is currently enjoying a meteoric rise to fame, with her album Spirit holding the record for the fastest selling debut album ever released in the UK. And now the young star has witnessed the extent of the AIDS pandemic during a recent trip to South Africa.

Lewis has just returned from a 3-day trip to Johannesburg with Sport Relief, an initiative of Comic Relief, in which she raised awareness of the plight of AIDS orphans and sufferers. But it was all almost too much for the singer, who describes in her diary how she broke down while visiting some of the worst cases.

“Some of the horrors I have seen will never leave me,” she said. “It’s amazing to see the great work that Sport Relief does firsthand and the difference they make, their projects and centres keep communities going and give them something to be proud and positive about.”

In response to her trip, Lewis has just announced that the stunning purple gown she wore for her performance at last month’s Brit Awards will be auctioned on eBay, with all proceeds going to Sport Relief.

“It’s been a great pleasure for me to work with Leona Lewis right from the start,” said Roberto Cavalli, who designed the dress. “She has an incredible voice, beautiful eyes, and a fresh and positive attitude. I’m happy that a dress I have created for her for an important occasion is now being auctioned for a charity. It’s a sign of her great generosity and I’m proud that the name Roberto Cavalli is linked to it.”

As if all of that is not enough, the singer is also donating the proceeds from her new double A-side single, Footprints In The Sand/Better In Time, to the charity.

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