Look To The Stars News: Victoria Rowell

Stars To Take Part In Celebrity Charity Bowling Challenge

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Kiki Shepard will once again host a group of her celebrity friends for a very special bowling challenge to raise awareness of Sickle Cell Disease this week.

The Celebrity Bowling Challenge takes place on Friday, September 17, and will feature Vivica Fox, Wayne Brady, Quinton Aaron, Victoria Rowell and many more.

The CBC, hosted by Kiki Shepard, will benefit the programs of The K.I.S. Foundation, an organization established by Kiki Shepard to inform and educate the public and raise awareness about Sickle Cell Disease through community outreach programs and educational scholarships.

Grey's Star Kicks Off Fundraising For James Pickens Jr. Foundation Event

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:30:00 +0000

On Friday May 15th, James Pickens Jr. and celebrity friends performed in a play about the history of Gospel music. The show ran for three days at the Wilten Ebell Theater in Los Angeles. Proceeds will go to the James Pickens Jr Foundation, and will support a number of different charitable organizations.

Pickens shared that he established the foundation because the idea had been in his heart for a while. When asked why he opted for a faith-based organization, he replied: “The faith based aspects move you to do what you do. We should all reach across the aisle and give a helping hand.” Among the organizations which benefit from the foundation are Grandparents As Parents, Camp Gideon, Helping Hands, and Victoria Rowell’s organization which helps to emancipate foster children.

Celebrity participants in the show included Reginal Vel Johnson, Loretta Devine, Rocky Caroll, Kiki Shepperd, Chanti Moore, Kenny Lattimore, and Vicky Winans. Pickens’ wife also performed in the show. Celebrities in attendance included Dawn Williams, Jackee Harry and many other recognizable working actors.

Victoria Rowell - Building A Better World For Foster Children

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:33:38 +0000

When Victoria Rowell was eight years old, her foster mother enrolled her in a classical ballet school. It was an act of love that led to bigger and better things – not only did dancing teach her to live her life with poise and grace, it also gave her the discipline to face the many challenges she has encountered. From ballet to acting, Rowell has lived a life of passion, a merit that eventually led her to establish the Foster Children Positive Plan.

Most people know Victoria Rowell from her role as Drucilla Winters on the long-running daytime drama The Young And The Restless and her role as Amanda Bentley on Diagnosis Murder (alongside Dick Van Dyke). Born in Portland, Maine, Rowell was surrended to child services when she was just 16 days old and spent the next 18 years in foster care. However, she has no doubt that it was the ballet lessons that gave her the courage and the strength to find herself as a person and to help her discover her potential. Soon after her first tentative steps into the world of dancing, Rowell received scholarships to the School of American Ballet, the Cambridge School of Ballet, the American Ballet Theater, and the Dance Theater of Harlem. After dancing with the Juilliard School of Music’s dance extension program, it was only a short step to acting and appearing on shows such as The Cosby Show and films such as The Distinguished Gentleman and Dumb And Dumber.

In 1990, at the height of her acting career, Rowell decided she wanted to help the thousands of foster children who do not recieve the same opportunities that led her to a successful career in the arts. She wanted to become a passionate voice for children like herself, and established the Foster Children Positive Plan to help children reach their potential in the arts and sports.