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    <title>Look To The Stars News: Morgan Freeman</title>
    <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman/rss20.xml</link>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <ttl>40</ttl>
    <description>The latest news about celebrity good deeds and charity involvement</description>
    <item>
      <title>More Stars Stand Up To Cancer</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/14&quot;&gt;Tim Saunders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/1120-stand-up-to-cancer&quot;&gt;Stand Up To Cancer&lt;/a&gt; has announced another selection of stars that will take part in their television extravaganza on September 5.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/34-charlize-theron&quot;&gt;Charlize Theron&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/92-jennifer-aniston&quot;&gt;Jennifer Aniston&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/117-scarlett-johansson&quot;&gt;Scarlett Johansson&lt;/a&gt; have been confirmed to join &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/8-meryl-streep&quot;&gt;Meryl Streep&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1362-david-cook&quot;&gt;David Cook&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/39-christina-applegate&quot;&gt;Christina Applegate&lt;/a&gt; in appearing on the primetime television event that hopes to raise funds for cancer research. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/480-lance-armstrong&quot;&gt;Lance Armstrong&lt;/a&gt; has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1035-lance-armstrong-stands-up-to-cancer&quot;&gt;already filmed a segment&lt;/a&gt; that will be shown during the one hour event which will be broadcast simultaneously on &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ABC&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;CBS&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;NBC&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Organizer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/571-sherry-lansing&quot;&gt;Sherry Lansing&lt;/a&gt; is pleased with the celebrity support the event is getting, and is grateful for their assistance.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#8220;It hasn&#8217;t been hard getting celebrity involvement,&#8221; she &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1023-stand-up-to-cancer-sherry-lansing-tells-us-how-and-why&quot;&gt;told &lt;em&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. &#8220;Everyone has been touched by cancer in some way and they want to stand up, just like everyone else.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A star-studded &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;PSA&lt;/span&gt; for the event &amp;#8211; featuring &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/425-christy-turlington&quot;&gt;Christy Turlington&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/920-tobey-maguire&quot;&gt;Tobey Maguire&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/491-susan-sarandon&quot;&gt;Susan Sarandon&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/229-keanu-reeves&quot;&gt;Keanu Reeves&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/689-casey-affleck&quot;&gt;Casey Affleck&lt;/a&gt; &amp;#8211; can be viewed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/video/60-stand-up-2-cancer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1199-affleck-tops-charity-stars-in-denver&quot;&gt;Affleck Tops Charity Stars in Denver&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1198-lance-armstrong-stands-up-to-cancer-tonight&quot;&gt;Lance Armstrong Stands Up To Cancer Tonight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1194-handbagcom-launches-handbag-amnesty&quot;&gt;Handbag.com Launches Handbag Amnesty&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1170-star-goodies-up-for-grabs-in-charity-auctions&quot;&gt;Star Goodies Up For Grabs In Charity Auctions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1159-famous-faces-flock-to-family-festival&quot;&gt;Famous Faces Flock To Family Festival&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2008 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
      the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/about#contact&quot;&gt;contact us&lt;/a&gt;.
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:30:00 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1061</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1061-more-stars-stand-up-to-cancer</link>
      <category>Casey Affleck</category>
      <category>Charlize Theron</category>
      <category>Christina Applegate</category>
      <category>Christy Turlington</category>
      <category>David Cook</category>
      <category>Jennifer Aniston</category>
      <category>Keanu Reeves</category>
      <category>Lance Armstrong</category>
      <category>Meryl Streep</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Scarlett Johansson</category>
      <category>Sherry Lansing</category>
      <category>Susan Sarandon</category>
      <category>Tobey Maguire</category>
      <category>Stand Up To Cancer</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>Cancer</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Party Rocks London</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/35&quot;&gt;Jennifer Beckmann&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Hyde Park was transformed into a giant birthday bash Friday night as 46,664 people joined &amp;#8220;birthday boy&amp;#8221; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/543-nelson-mandela&quot;&gt;Nelson Mandela&lt;/a&gt; and a stellar lineup of entertainers to raise funds and awareness for his &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/658-46664&quot;&gt;46664&lt;/a&gt; charity.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It had been raining on and off all day in London, but the skies cleared just in time for the once-in-a-lifetime lineup of musicians and entertainers to take the stage in honor of Nelson Mandela&amp;#8217;s 90th Birthday. The event was hosted by an enthusiastic &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/150-will-smith&quot;&gt;Will Smith&lt;/a&gt;, and performers included Jivan Gasparyan, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/866-razorlight&quot;&gt;Razorlight&lt;/a&gt;, the cast of &lt;em&gt;Into the &amp;#8217;Hoods&lt;/em&gt;, Sipho Mibuze, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1099-leona-lewis&quot;&gt;Leona Lewis&lt;/a&gt;, Zucchero, Suzanna Owiyo and D&amp;#8217;Gary, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/152-sugababes&quot;&gt;Sugababes&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/158-annie-lennox&quot;&gt;Annie Lennox&lt;/a&gt; (who performed with the Agape Children&amp;#8217;s Choir), Emmanual Jal, Vusi Mahlasela, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/422-jamelia&quot;&gt;Jamelia&lt;/a&gt;, Loyiso, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/867-johnny-clegg&quot;&gt;Johnny Clegg&lt;/a&gt;, Joan Baez, Eddy Grant, Kurt Darren, Simple Minds, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/351-brian-may&quot;&gt;Brian May&lt;/a&gt; and Andrea Corr, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1079-amy-winehouse&quot;&gt;Amy Winehouse&lt;/a&gt;, 9ice and Bebe Cool, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1133-josh-groban&quot;&gt;Josh Groban&lt;/a&gt;, Amaral, and Queen and Paul Rodgers. The renowned Soweto Gospel Choir accompanied many of the acts. Additional entertainers who introduced the musical acts included &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/861-quincy-jones&quot;&gt;Quincy Jones&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1399-lewis-hamilton&quot;&gt;Lewis Hamilton&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/559-geri-halliwell&quot;&gt;Geri Halliwell&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/696-peter-gabriel&quot;&gt;Peter Gabriel&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/320-stephen-fry&quot;&gt;Stephen Fry&lt;/a&gt;, and Jerry Dammers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After Jivan Gasparyan opened the show with an instrumental piece to accompany a moving series of photographs of Mandela, Will Smith took to the stage with his wife &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/81-jada-pinkett-smith&quot;&gt;Jada&lt;/a&gt; and announced, &amp;#8220;The party starts now.&amp;#8221; An energizing performance by Razorlight set the tone for the rest of the evening.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Quincy Jones introduced crowd favorite Leona Lewis, who sang her two top hits &amp;#8220;Better in Time&amp;#8221; and &amp;#8220;Bleeding Love.&amp;#8221; Lewis wished Mandela a happy birthday and told a touching story of how she and her family used to sing songs about him when she was young.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Other birthday wishes came via a film of various celebrities who were unable to attend, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/49-david-beckham&quot;&gt;David Beckham&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/179-victoria-beckham&quot;&gt;Victoria Beckham&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/192-sharon-osbourne&quot;&gt;Sharon Osbourne&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/267-sheryl-crow&quot;&gt;Sheryl Crow&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/491-susan-sarandon&quot;&gt;Susan Sarandon&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Smith returned to the stage throughout the show, revving the crowd with a surprise performance of his song &amp;#8220;Switch,&amp;#8221; which included rap verses from his hit television show &amp;#8220;The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.&amp;#8221; Annie Lennox, a passionate &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;HIV&lt;/span&gt;/&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; activist and staunch supporter of Mandela&amp;#8217;s charities, made a moving speech about a young girl she had met in Africa who was gravely ill with &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; but was able to make a miraculous recovery thanks to proper treatment and care. Before and after images of the girl were shown on the large screens behind Lennox, who then performed a song with the Agape Children&amp;#8217;s Choir. The crowd sang along as the lyrics &amp;#8220;We are together&#8230; We are family&amp;#8221; flashed across the screens.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Peter Gabriel introduced Emmanual Jal, a former child soldier in Sudan who sang a song dedicated to the British aid worker who rescued him and 150 other children. Gerri Halliwell introduced trailblazing South African music legend Johnny Clegg, who performed a duet with Joan Baez.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Immediately following this performance was the highlight of the night. Will and Jada Smith introduced the &amp;#8220;birthday boy&amp;#8221; himself, and Nelson Mandela was escorted onto the stage to thunderous cheers and applause. The concert performers gathered on stage and, together with the nearly 50,000 people in attendance, sang &amp;#8220;Happy Birthday.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Mandela waved to the crowd and made a brief, moving speech. &amp;#8220;We say tonight after nearly 90 years of life, it&amp;#8217;s time for new hands to lift the burdens,&amp;#8221; he said. &amp;#8220;It&amp;#8217;s in your hands now, I thank you.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Eddy Grant and Kurt Darren followed up Mandela&amp;#8217;s appearance with &amp;#8220;Give Me Hope Johanna,&amp;#8221; a song Grant wrote during South Africa&amp;#8217;s apartheid regime. Simple Minds performed, having also performed at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at London&amp;#8217;s Wembley Stadium in 1988; and celebrated English humorist Stephen Fry introduced Brian May and Andrea Corr. The most highly anticipated performance of the evening came next, as a recently hospitalized Amy Winehouse teetered onto the stage in platform heels to perform her hit songs &amp;#8220;Rehab&amp;#8221; and &amp;#8220;Valerie.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After a politically-fueled performance by Nigerian artist 9ice and Ugandan musician Bebe Cool &amp;#8211; who appeared on stage in bright orange prison jumpsuits emblazoned with &amp;#8220;46664&#8221; &amp;#8211; Josh Groban sang with Vusi Mahlasela and the Soweto Gospel Choir. Spanish artists Amaral performed an acoustic number, and then Mandela and the audience were treated to a video of &amp;quot;U2&amp;#8217;s&amp;#8221;:http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/245-u2 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/26-bono&quot;&gt;Bono&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/257-the-edge&quot;&gt;The Edge&lt;/a&gt; singing Stevie Wonder&amp;#8217;s peppy rendition of &amp;#8220;Happy Birthday.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The penultimate act was Queen and Paul Rodgers, who performed a fan-friendly medley of Queen&amp;#8217;s greatest hits, including &amp;#8220;The Show Must Go On,&amp;#8221; &amp;#8220;We Will Rock You&amp;#8221; and &amp;#8220;We are the Champions.&amp;#8221; The crowd sang and clapped along thunderously.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The concert&amp;#8217;s finale featured anti-apartheid campaigner and musician Jerry Dammers, who organized the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. Dammers and Winehouse led the entire line-up of performers and the crowd in singing Dammers&amp;#8217; anthem &amp;#8220;Free Nelson Mandela.&amp;#8221; Formerly sung in protest against Mandela&amp;#8217;s imprisonment, the song took on a celebratory tone and was a fitting end to an historic event.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;All proceeds from the concert will go to 46664, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/544-nelson-mandela-foundation&quot;&gt;Nelson Mandela Foundation&amp;#8217;s&lt;/a&gt; campaign for global &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;HIV&lt;/span&gt;/&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; awareness and prevention.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To send birthday wishes to Nelson Mandela &amp;#8211; who turns 90 on 18 July &#8211; visit www.happybirthdaymandela.com. Proceeds from this birthday card campaign go to Nelson Mandela&amp;#8217;s charities.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1200-jude-laws-peace-tour&quot;&gt;Jude Law's Peace Tour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1198-lance-armstrong-stands-up-to-cancer-tonight&quot;&gt;Lance Armstrong Stands Up To Cancer Tonight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1194-handbagcom-launches-handbag-amnesty&quot;&gt;Handbag.com Launches Handbag Amnesty&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1193-daughtry-rocks-dnc-packs-kits-for-charity&quot;&gt;Daughtry Rocks DNC, Packs Kits for Charity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1192-julia-roberts-and-armani-fight-aids-together&quot;&gt;Julia Roberts and Armani Fight AIDS Together&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2008 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
      the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/about#contact&quot;&gt;contact us&lt;/a&gt;.
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:30:00 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/962</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/962-nelson-mandelas-90th-birthday-party-rocks-london</link>
      <category>Amy Winehouse</category>
      <category>Annie Lennox</category>
      <category>Bono</category>
      <category>Brian May</category>
      <category>David Beckham</category>
      <category>Geri Halliwell</category>
      <category>Jada Pinkett Smith</category>
      <category>Jamelia</category>
      <category>Johnny Clegg</category>
      <category>Josh Groban</category>
      <category>Leona Lewis</category>
      <category>Lewis Hamilton</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Nelson Mandela</category>
      <category>Peter Gabriel</category>
      <category>Quincy Jones</category>
      <category>Razorlight</category>
      <category>Sharon Osbourne</category>
      <category>Sheryl Crow</category>
      <category>Stephen Fry</category>
      <category>Sugababes</category>
      <category>Susan Sarandon</category>
      <category>The Edge</category>
      <category>U2</category>
      <category>Victoria Beckham</category>
      <category>Will Smith</category>
      <category>46664</category>
      <category>Nelson Mandela Foundation</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>AIDS</category>
      <category>Human Rights</category>
      <category>Peace</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Angelina Jolie Donates Jacket To Charity Auction</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/14&quot;&gt;Tim Saunders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/2-angelina-jolie&quot;&gt;Angelina Jolie&lt;/a&gt; is auctioning off clothes she wore in her latest film to benefit a charity established by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/1093-plan-t-now&quot;&gt;Plan!t Now&lt;/a&gt; is an organization that provides people, communities, and companies with the information they need to protect their families, homes, businesses, resources, and documents from the effects of storm and hurricane-related disasters, and the new online auction features a range of celebrity-donated items to raise money to help those in need.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Jolie has donated the jacket she wore onscreen during her up-coming feature &lt;em&gt;Wanted&lt;/em&gt; to the cause, and Freeman &#8211; her co-star in the movie &#8211; has put up opportunities to meet him at his latest theatre appearance and also to join him in a round of golf. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/68-george-clooney&quot;&gt;George Clooney&lt;/a&gt; has donated an autographed pair of boots, and there are also chances to attend concerts by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1461-keith-urban&quot;&gt;Keith Urban&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/618-eric-clapton&quot;&gt;Eric Clapton&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The auction, which runs on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.charityfolks.com&quot;&gt;Charity Folks website&lt;/a&gt;, runs until July 1.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Fans of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/877-eagles&quot;&gt;Eagles&lt;/a&gt; should also head over to Charity Folks to check out some of the signed merchandise up for grabs from the classic rockers. There&#8217;s a signed guitar, poster, and &lt;em&gt;Long Road Out Of Eden&lt;/em&gt; CD on offer, with proceeds going to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/413-the-national-kidney-foundation&quot;&gt;National Kidney Foundation&lt;/a&gt;. But be quick, that auction ends tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1189-swinton-and-coen-brothers-press-palms-for-charity&quot;&gt;Swinton and Coen Brothers Press Palms for Charity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1186-un-praise-for-pitt-and-clooney&quot;&gt;UN Praise For Pitt And Clooney&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1160-brad-pitt-and-george-clooney-hold-fundraising-dinner&quot;&gt;Brad Pitt And George Clooney Hold Fundraising Dinner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1146-george-clooney-helps-out-brad-pitts-foundation&quot;&gt;George Clooney Helps Out Brad Pitt's Foundation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1130-keith-urban-thinks-you-would-look-good-in-his-old-shirt&quot;&gt;Keith Urban Thinks You Would Look Good In His Old Shirt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2008 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
      the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/about#contact&quot;&gt;contact us&lt;/a&gt;.
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:30:00 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/941</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/941-angelina-jolie-donates-jacket-to-charity-auction</link>
      <category>Angelina Jolie</category>
      <category>Eagles</category>
      <category>Eric Clapton</category>
      <category>George Clooney</category>
      <category>Keith Urban</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>National Kidney Foundation</category>
      <category>Plan!t Now</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>Disaster Relief</category>
      <category>Health</category>
      <category>Organ Donation</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Hilary Swank Honored For Charity Work</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/14&quot;&gt;Tim Saunders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Oscar winning actress &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/692-hilary-swank&quot;&gt;Hilary Swank&lt;/a&gt; was honored at a special function in Los Angeles last week for her work with cancer charities.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The 33-year-old was presented with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/134-entertainment-industry-foundation&quot;&gt;Entertainment Industry Foundation&#8217;s&lt;/a&gt; 2008 Courage Award, in recognition of her efforts on behalf of the EIF&#8217;s Women&#8217;s Cancer Research Fund. Past recipients of the award have included &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/381-melissa-etheridge&quot;&gt;Melissa Etheridge&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/480-lance-armstrong&quot;&gt;Lance Armstrong&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/185-nicole-kidman&quot;&gt;Nicole Kidman&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Among the stars to pay tribute to Swank at last week&#8217;s ceremony, held at the Beverly Wiltshire, were &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/188-tom-hanks&quot;&gt;Tom Hanks&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/109-steven-spielberg&quot;&gt;Steven Spielberg&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1046-christian-slater&quot;&gt;Christian Slater&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The award was presented by Swank&#8217;s &lt;em&gt;Million Dollar Baby&lt;/em&gt; co-star &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;, who said &#8220;she truly has the heart of a champion.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In November 2007, Swank &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/412-swank-takes-a-cut-for-charity-on-oprah&quot;&gt;chopped off over 9 inches of her hair&lt;/a&gt; on Oprah and donated it to Pantene &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/128-beautiful-lengths&quot;&gt;Beautiful Lengths&lt;/a&gt;, a campaign working with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/453-american-cancer-society&quot;&gt;American Cancer Society&lt;/a&gt; to provide free wigs to women who have lost their hair after cancer treatment.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1198-lance-armstrong-stands-up-to-cancer-tonight&quot;&gt;Lance Armstrong Stands Up To Cancer Tonight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1166-jeans-engineered-for-celebs-on-auction&quot;&gt;Jeans Engineered For Celebs On Auction&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1151-kyle-maclachlan-to-front-womens-cancer-psa&quot;&gt;Kyle Maclachlan To Front Women's Cancer PSA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1142-female-stars-unite-for-new-charity-single&quot;&gt;Female Stars Unite For New Charity Single&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1131-who-wants-to-be-a-roadie-for-the-who&quot;&gt;Who Wants To Be A Roadie For The Who?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2008 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
      the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/about#contact&quot;&gt;contact us&lt;/a&gt;.
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:08:35 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/566</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/566-hilary-swank-honored-for-charity-work</link>
      <category>Christian Slater</category>
      <category>Hilary Swank</category>
      <category>Lance Armstrong</category>
      <category>Melissa Etheridge</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Nicole Kidman</category>
      <category>Steven Spielberg</category>
      <category>Tom Hanks</category>
      <category>American Cancer Society</category>
      <category>Beautiful Lengths</category>
      <category>Entertainment Industry Foundation</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>Cancer</category>
      <category>Children</category>
      <category>Creative Arts</category>
      <category>Education</category>
      <category>Health</category>
      <category>Hunger</category>
      <category>Poverty</category>
      <category>Women</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Celebrities Put Their Votes Where Their Hearts Are</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/14&quot;&gt;Tim Saunders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Celebrity endorsement and music have been essential features of political campaigns for the last 70 years. One of the earliest examples dates back to 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt used &#8220;Happy Days Are Here Again&#8221; as the theme song to his first presidential campaign. It eventually became the unofficial anthem for the Democrats, was used for years afterwards, and set a new standard in the way elections were campaigned.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Jump forward to 1960 and you find crooner Frank Sinatra openly supporting the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy by singing a specially revised version of &#8220;High Hopes&#8221;. Jump forward further and you will hear the Republicans of 1988 singing the chorus of Bobby McFerrin&#8217;s &#8220;Don&#8217;t Worry, Be Happy&#8221; (although McFerrin later asked them to stop using it).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And who can forget &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/20-bill-clinton&quot;&gt;Bill Clinton&lt;/a&gt; blowing his saxophone along to Fleetwood Mac&#8217;s &#8220;Don&#8217;t Stop&#8221; in 1992?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In 2008, it looks as though celebrity endorsement and music are set to be important parts of the Presidential Election once again, with a number of celebrities throwing their support into candidates&#8217; campaigns. But although many stars are openly backing particular campaigns, their message this year has a deeper meaning.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;If we want to stop the war, if we want to get the economy better, I think that young people need to understand they have to take matters into their own hands,&amp;#8221; said &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/54-diddy&quot;&gt;Sean &#8216;Diddy&#8217; Combs&lt;/a&gt;. &amp;#8220;It is really like waking up a sleeping giant.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The 38-year-old Hip Hop star and fashion designer believes that it is more important than ever for young people to go out and vote, and that the voice of youth will be an defining factor in this year&#8217;s election.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;A lot of young people have decided that this is their future. This president is going to decide their future,&amp;#8221; said Combs, who launched the Citizen Change campaign in 2004 to encourage young voters. &amp;#8220;I didn&amp;#8217;t really want to get in the political game but I wanted to see young people become empowered. That&amp;#8217;s where my attention is at. To have an African-American man and a woman in, it&amp;#8217;s going to go down in history as the most historical election. And I think that young people will have a hand in the result.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Last Tuesday saw 20 states in America hold primary elections to determine the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees for president, with Senator &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/77-hillary-clinton&quot;&gt;Hillary Clinton&lt;/a&gt; up against Senator &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/998-barak-obama&quot;&gt;Barack Obama&lt;/a&gt; for the Democrats, and Senator John McCain against former Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republicans.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And it seems that all of the candidates have pulled together an impressive list of celebrity backers. McCain has received endorsements from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/342-sylvester-stallone&quot;&gt;Sylvester Stallone&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/12-arnold-schwarzenegger&quot;&gt;Arnold Schwarzenegger&lt;/a&gt;, Jerry Bruckheimer, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1325-tom-selleck&quot;&gt;Tom Selleck&lt;/a&gt;, while Romney is being backed by the likes of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/548-pat-boone&quot;&gt;Pat Boone&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1270-donny-osmond&quot;&gt;Donny Osmond&lt;/a&gt;. On the Democrats&#8217; side, Clinton has received endorsements from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/181-barbra-streisand&quot;&gt;Barbra Streisand&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/565-danny-devito&quot;&gt;Danny DeVito&lt;/a&gt;, Sally Field, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/526-magic-johnson&quot;&gt;Magic Johnson&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/109-steven-spielberg&quot;&gt;Steven Spielberg&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/79-jack-nicholson&quot;&gt;Jack Nicholson&lt;/a&gt;, while Obama has attracted the support of celebrities such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/194-eddie-murphy&quot;&gt;Eddie Murphy&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/150-will-smith&quot;&gt;Will Smith&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/73-halle-berry&quot;&gt;Halle Berry&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/195-jessica-biel&quot;&gt;Jessica Biel&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/918-usher&quot;&gt;Usher&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/532-edward-norton&quot;&gt;Edward Norton&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/647-hulk-hogan&quot;&gt;Hulk Hogan&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/919-robert-deniro&quot;&gt;Robert DeNiro&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/496-forest-whitaker&quot;&gt;Forest Whitaker&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;23-year-old actress &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/117-scarlett-johansson&quot;&gt;Scarlett Johansson&lt;/a&gt; is another star to show her support for Barack Obama, and last week recorded a message that was played to hundreds of voters in California over the telephone. She stated in the message that a vote for the Illinois senator was the last chance to &amp;#8220;turn a page on the polarizing politics of the past&amp;#8221;. This was followed by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/68-george-clooney&quot;&gt;George Clooney&lt;/a&gt; adding his name to the supporters list at the annual Oscar Nominees&#8217; Lunch last week.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;I&amp;#8217;ve been an Obama guy for a year and a half and I&amp;#8217;m very excited by his campaign,&amp;#8221; he said. &amp;#8220;It just seems that the more time he&amp;#8217;s out there, his numbers keep growing. So I&amp;#8217;m very, very encouraged.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Johansson has also showed her support by taking part in the massive new internet campaign to increase the youth vote for Barack Obama. Led by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/924-black-eyed-peas&quot;&gt;Black Eyed Peas&lt;/a&gt; member &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/488-will-i-am&quot;&gt;will.i.am&lt;/a&gt;, the campaign features a music video that is taking YouTube by storm. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHEO_fG3mm4&quot;&gt;Yes We Can&lt;/a&gt; took the singer two days to record and film, and has attracted almost 2 million views since it was released last Friday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Hip Hop star was inspired to write the song after watching Obama&#8217;s speech following the Democrat&#8217;s loss to Clinton in the New Hampshire primary election.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;It was as if he was talking to me,&amp;#8221; said will.i.am. &amp;#8220;It was as if he was talking to and defending everything that made me who I am. I took that speech, and I wanted everyone else to be inspired by that speech as I was.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The song features Obama&#8217;s speech set to music, and includes appearances by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/766-john-legend&quot;&gt;John Legend&lt;/a&gt;, Kate Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Herbie Hancock. Although it was not commissioned by Obama, he saw it on Saturday and has embraced it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;After nearly a year on the campaign trail, I&amp;#8217;ve seen a lot of things that have touched me deeply, but I had to share this with you,&amp;#8221; Obama&#8217;s wife, Michelle, said in an e-mail to supporters. &amp;#8220;Sharing this video, which was created by supporters, is one more way to help start a conversation with your friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else who will be voting soon about the issues important to them in this election.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But will.i.am insists the point of the song is not just to stir up votes for the first-term senator, but to &amp;#8220;remind people how powerful they are. The idea of &amp;#8216;Yes We Can&amp;#8217; doesn&amp;#8217;t stop because he doesn&amp;#8217;t win.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are currently several organizations that are being backed by celebrities to encourage young people to vote, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/408-declare-yourself&quot;&gt;Declare Yourself&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/69-rock-the-vote&quot;&gt;Rock the Vote&lt;/a&gt;, both of which are using the internet to raise the awareness of youth prior to this year&#8217;s election.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;The Internet and technology empowers people,&amp;#8221; said will.i.am. &amp;#8220;And the &amp;#8216;Yes We Can&amp;#8217; song is proof that they don&amp;#8217;t need a big record company or a big movie company . . . to go out and captivate people&amp;#8217;s attention.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But whether celebrity endorsement actually affects the votes is still a matter of contention. According to a study carried out by the Pew Research Centre in September, &amp;#8220;political endorsements generally have little impact on voter preference&amp;#8221;.&lt;br /&gt;
The research found almost 70% of Americans polled said that if told a celebrity endorsed a presidential candidate, it would not affect their vote. And of the 30% who said an endorsement would influence them, 15% said it would make them more likely to vote for the endorsed candidate while the other half said they would be less likely to do so.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But if history is anything to go by, it won&#8217;t stop the celebrities from having their say.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1200-jude-laws-peace-tour&quot;&gt;Jude Law's Peace Tour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1199-affleck-tops-charity-stars-in-denver&quot;&gt;Affleck Tops Charity Stars in Denver&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1198-lance-armstrong-stands-up-to-cancer-tonight&quot;&gt;Lance Armstrong Stands Up To Cancer Tonight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1194-handbagcom-launches-handbag-amnesty&quot;&gt;Handbag.com Launches Handbag Amnesty&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1189-swinton-and-coen-brothers-press-palms-for-charity&quot;&gt;Swinton and Coen Brothers Press Palms for Charity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2008 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
      the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/about#contact&quot;&gt;contact us&lt;/a&gt;.
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:44:49 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/537</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/537-celebrities-put-their-votes-where-their-hearts-are</link>
      <category>Arnold Schwarzenegger</category>
      <category>Barack Obama</category>
      <category>Barbra Streisand</category>
      <category>Bill Clinton</category>
      <category>Black Eyed Peas</category>
      <category>Danny DeVito</category>
      <category>Donny Osmond</category>
      <category>Eddie Murphy</category>
      <category>Edward Norton</category>
      <category>Forest Whitaker</category>
      <category>George Clooney</category>
      <category>Halle Berry</category>
      <category>Hillary Clinton</category>
      <category>Hulk Hogan</category>
      <category>Jack Nicholson</category>
      <category>Jessica Biel</category>
      <category>John Legend</category>
      <category>Magic Johnson</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Pat Boone</category>
      <category>P. Diddy</category>
      <category>Robert DeNiro</category>
      <category>Scarlett Johansson</category>
      <category>Steven Spielberg</category>
      <category>Sylvester Stallone</category>
      <category>Tom Selleck</category>
      <category>Usher</category>
      <category>will.i.am</category>
      <category>Will Smith</category>
      <category>Declare Yourself</category>
      <category>Rock the Vote</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>Voter Education</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Julia Roberts - More Than Just A Pretty Woman</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/14&quot;&gt;Tim Saunders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/608-julia-roberts&quot;&gt;Julia Roberts&lt;/a&gt; may be one of the most instantly recognizable actresses in Hollywood, but as a child she suffered from an affliction shared by over 3 million other Americans. Along with her brother, Heroes star &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/833-eric-roberts&quot;&gt;Eric Roberts&lt;/a&gt;, the actress was a chronic stutterer. But it was a disorder she fought to overcome, and now she is helping others overcome the frustrating complaint.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Born in Smyrna, Georgia, Roberts wanted nothing more than to be a veterinarian when she grew up. Her father, a professional vacuum cleaner salesman, was a keen amateur actor who met his wife, a real estate agent, through a local theater group. Acting and performing was a big part of family life in the Roberts&#8217; household, and thespian pursuits soon rubbed off on the young Roberts children. The two older offspring soon headed to New York to pursue acting careers, but Julia stayed at home to attend university. However, the acting bug could not be suppressed, and upon graduation, Julia headed to the Big Apple to join her sister, actress Lisa Roberts Gillan.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But before she could break into show business, Roberts had to beat her stuttering problem. She did this through the support of her family and friends, and last week, along with her brother, was asked by the Stuttering Foundation of America to be a spokesperson for the group.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;It would be marvelous to have them participate,&amp;#8221; said foundation representative Jane Fraser. &#8220;They have no doubt inspired young people with the problem.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The late 80&#8217;s were a struggle for the young actress, although she began to build up a profile by appearing in shows such as &lt;em&gt;Miami Vice&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Sesame Street&lt;/em&gt;. But it was a role as a diabetic in &lt;em&gt;Steel Magnolias&lt;/em&gt; that launched Roberts into the public eye and gave her the first of many Oscar nominations.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1990 saw the release of &lt;em&gt;Pretty Woman&lt;/em&gt;, alongside &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/124-richard-gere&quot;&gt;Richard Gere&lt;/a&gt;, and another Oscar nomination. Her star rose to prominence throughout the next decade with roles in seven high-grossing films, such as &lt;em&gt;Hook&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;My Best Friend&#8217;s Wedding&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;Notting Hill&lt;/em&gt;. But it was her leading role in 2001&#8217;s &lt;em&gt;Erin Brockovich&lt;/em&gt; that finally won her a Best Actress Oscar.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In 1995, Roberts expressed a desire to make her celebrity status mean something, and approached &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/1-unicef&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;UNICEF&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; to ask how she could make a difference in the world. The organization sent her to Port-au-Prince, the largest city in Haiti. It was a life-changing experience for the actress, and she found the poverty in the slums overwhelming. She later commented that her &#8220;heart was just bursting&#8221; at the sight of the children, many off whom were undernourished and homeless. Since then, she has visited many of the world&#8217;s poorest countries promoting peace, goodwill, and help for those in need.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In 2000, Roberts narrated a documentary film about Rett Syndrome, a rare disorder that can be fatal in young girls, and also represented the International Rett Syndrome Association in front of Congress in 2002.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Congress has within its power the ability to provide the accelerated funding needed to increase our understanding of Rett syndrome,&#8221; she told a subcommittee of the House of Appropriations. &amp;quot;There is an urgent need now&#8230; to redouble the efforts of researchers and capitalize on their important and steadfast work.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Roberts also sits alongside &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/189-paul-newman&quot;&gt;Paul Newman&lt;/a&gt; on the Board of Directors for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/230-hole-in-the-wall-camps&quot;&gt;Hole in the Wall Gang&lt;/a&gt;, the world&#8217;s largest network of camps for ill children, and in 2007 she designed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/441-charity-gift-ideas-for-christmas&quot;&gt;bracelets&lt;/a&gt; that were sold as part of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/26-bono&quot;&gt;Bono&amp;#8217;s&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/135-red&quot;&gt;Product (RED) Campaign&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In 2006, Roberts became the Advisory Board Chairperson for Earth Biofuels, a company set up in Mississippi in 2004 to implement clean-burning fuels on a nationwide scale. Her passion for the environment led her to join Board members &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/465-willie-nelson&quot;&gt;Willie Nelson&lt;/a&gt; in a crusade to encourage the use of biofuels in over 500,000 school buses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;It&amp;#8217;s very important that we expand our use of clean energy and make a long-term commitment to it,&amp;#8221; she said. &amp;#8220;Biodiesel and ethanol are better for the environment and for the air we breathe.The use of biodiesel is a positive step toward minimizing pollutive emissions and greenhouse gases. By focusing on school buses, we can affect the health and wellbeing of the people most susceptible to that pollution &amp;#8211; our children &amp;#8211; today.&amp;#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Roberts is currently starring in &lt;em&gt;Charlie Wilson&#8217;s War&lt;/em&gt; alongside &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/188-tom-hanks&quot;&gt;Tom Hanks&lt;/a&gt;, but perhaps it is a line from &lt;em&gt;Erin Brockovich&lt;/em&gt; that best sums up her attitude towards the causes she supports:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#8220;For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me &amp;#8211; please don&#8217;t ask me to give it up.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1200-jude-laws-peace-tour&quot;&gt;Jude Law's Peace Tour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1199-affleck-tops-charity-stars-in-denver&quot;&gt;Affleck Tops Charity Stars in Denver&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1193-daughtry-rocks-dnc-packs-kits-for-charity&quot;&gt;Daughtry Rocks DNC, Packs Kits for Charity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1192-julia-roberts-and-armani-fight-aids-together&quot;&gt;Julia Roberts and Armani Fight AIDS Together&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1161-singers-combine-talents-to-support-americas-farmers&quot;&gt;Singers Combine Talents To Support America&#8217;s Farmers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
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    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2008 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
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    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:17:32 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/522</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/522-julia-roberts-more-than-just-a-pretty-woman</link>
      <category>Bono</category>
      <category>Eric Roberts</category>
      <category>Julia Roberts</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Paul Newman</category>
      <category>Richard Gere</category>
      <category>Tom Hanks</category>
      <category>Willie Nelson</category>
      <category>Hole in the Wall Gang</category>
      <category>(RED)</category>
      <category>UNICEF</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>AIDS</category>
      <category>Cancer</category>
      <category>Children</category>
      <category>Health</category>
      <category>Human Rights</category>
      <category>Poverty</category>
      <category>Women</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Stars Record Public Service Announcement</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/17&quot;&gt;Elizabeth Willoughby&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/17-ben-affleck&quot;&gt;Ben Affleck&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/906-dakota-fanning&quot;&gt;Dakota Fanning&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/564-eva-mendes&quot;&gt;Eva Mendes&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/530-garth-brooks&quot;&gt;Garth Brooks&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/894-jeremy-piven&quot;&gt;Jeremy Piven&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/115-joaquin-phoenix&quot;&gt;Joaquin Phoenix&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/184-reese-witherspoon&quot;&gt;Reese Witherspoon&lt;/a&gt; have filmed a Public Service Announcement for all Americans, stating that the country&#8217;s health care and financial security crisis is about to explode. But if people on both sides of the issue would start a dialogue, the problems are not insurmountable.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The video is part of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/1087-american-association-of-retired-persons&quot;&gt;American Association of Retired Persons&#8217;&lt;/a&gt; (AARP) &#8220;Divided We Fail&#8221; project, an initiative that has just garnered support from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/134-entertainment-industry-foundation&quot;&gt;Entertainment Industry Foundation&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/815-motion-picture-television-fund&quot;&gt;Motion Picture &amp;amp; Television Fund&lt;/a&gt; (MPTF).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#8220;We need to build a national conversation around these issues,&#8221; said &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AARP&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;CEO&lt;/span&gt; Bill Novelli, who is more than happy with the union. &#8220;The entertainment industry is uniquely suited to help us do that.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It is a view shared by &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;MPTF&lt;/span&gt; Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. &amp;#8220;Hollywood can call attention to these problems and help galvanize the public into taking action,&amp;#8221; said the producer of Shrek and head of the organization of entertainment industry leaders dedicated to supporting health and human service needs. &amp;quot;[This] is a key first step in solving them.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The director of the video, Tony Goldwyn, had a very specific message to get across: &#8220;People wind up feeling that the two sides are just too far apart; that these problems are so big and complex that we can&amp;#8217;t fix them. What we&amp;#8217;re saying is, if we all get together and start talking, we can.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Americans struggling with financial and health care problems are invited to share their stories at www.aarp.org, and their experiences may be used for the Divided We Fail project. The &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;PSA&lt;/span&gt; video can also be viewed on the site. The &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AARP&lt;/span&gt; organization is dedicated to enhancing the experience of aging through advocacy, information, and service, with a focus on the needs for health, financial security, giving back to society, family and social connectedness, and joy in life.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1199-affleck-tops-charity-stars-in-denver&quot;&gt;Affleck Tops Charity Stars in Denver&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1185-witherspoon-speaks-out-in-brazil&quot;&gt;Witherspoon Speaks Out In Brazil&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1151-kyle-maclachlan-to-front-womens-cancer-psa&quot;&gt;Kyle Maclachlan To Front Women's Cancer PSA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1142-female-stars-unite-for-new-charity-single&quot;&gt;Female Stars Unite For New Charity Single&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1072-gwyneth-paltrow-pushes-for-a-key-to-the-cure&quot;&gt;Gwyneth Paltrow Pushes For A Key To The Cure&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2007 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
      the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright, and we would be grateful if you would
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/about#contact&quot;&gt;contact us&lt;/a&gt;.
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:44:27 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/439</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/439-stars-record-public-service-announcement</link>
      <category>Ben Affleck</category>
      <category>Dakota Fanning</category>
      <category>Eva Mendes</category>
      <category>Garth Brooks</category>
      <category>Jeremy Piven</category>
      <category>Joaquin Phoenix</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Reese Witherspoon</category>
      <category>American Association of Retired Persons</category>
      <category>Entertainment Industry Foundation</category>
      <category>Motion Picture &amp; Television Fund</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>Cancer</category>
      <category>Children</category>
      <category>Creative Arts</category>
      <category>Education</category>
      <category>Health</category>
      <category>Hunger</category>
      <category>Poverty</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Artists Come Out To Shake the Blues</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;small&gt;Written by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contributor/22&quot;&gt;Crystal A. Johnson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The charity &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/415-artists-for-a-new-south-africa&quot;&gt;Artists for a New South Africa&lt;/a&gt; (ANSA) held its annual concert and auctions on Thursday November, 15, 2007 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.  The &amp;#8220;Shaking the Blues&amp;#8221; benefit supports ANSA&amp;#8217;s work fighting &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;HIV&lt;/span&gt;/&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; in the U.S. and Africa, with a portion of the proceeds going to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/669-treatment-action-campaign&quot;&gt;Treatment Action Campaign&lt;/a&gt;, a grassroots organization at the forefront of South Africa&amp;#8217;s fight against &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt;.  &lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Among the celebrities in attendance were Blair Underwood, Eric Benet, Anthony Anderson, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/682-alfre-woodard&quot;&gt;Alfre Woodard&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Heroes&lt;/em&gt; star Jimmy Jean-Louis, and &lt;em&gt;Grey&amp;#8217;s Anatomy&lt;/em&gt; star James Pickens Jr.  Event chairs include Jackson Browne, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/121-samuel-l-jackson&quot;&gt;Samuel L. Jackson&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/378-george-lopez&quot;&gt;George Lopez&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/639-carlos-santana&quot;&gt;Carlos Santana&amp;#8217;s&lt;/a&gt; wife Deborah, Alfre Woodard and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/496-forest-whitaker&quot;&gt;Forest Whitaker&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Not only was a baseball signed by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield on hand at the silent auction, but Dave and his wife Tonya attended the event.  Close friends with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/121-samuel-l-jackson&quot;&gt;Samuel&lt;/a&gt; and Latonya Jackson, the Winfields hope to personally visit South Africa soon.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The musical line-up featured stirring performances by The Roots and friends, Erykah Badu with Edith Funker, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/859-nikka-costa&quot;&gt;Nikka Costa&lt;/a&gt;, Doyle Bramhall II, Keb Mo, and Taj Mahal.  The Roots roused the crowd with a rendition of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/514-bob-dylan&quot;&gt;Bob Dylan&amp;#8217;s&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;Masters of War&lt;/em&gt;, and the audience rose for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/858-erykah-badu&quot;&gt;Erykah Badu&amp;#8217;s&lt;/a&gt; performance of her classic &lt;em&gt;On and On&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In keeping with many other recent celebrity events, acknowledgement was given to the writers&amp;#8217; strike; James Pickens Jr spoke of supporting the writers before he introduced the grand finale performance by Taj Mahal. &lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Movie and &lt;em&gt;K-ville&lt;/em&gt; star &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/905-anthony-anderson&quot;&gt;Anthony Anderson&lt;/a&gt; served as auctioneer for the live auction.  As &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/857-blair-underwood&quot;&gt;Blair Underwood&lt;/a&gt; battled for a diamond earring lot, Anderson comically referred to him only as &amp;#8220;the man with the orange leather jacket on&amp;#8221;. Underwood&amp;#8217;s counter-bidder upped the ante, requesting a date with her opponent be included along with the earrings, which she won at $9,000.  Not only did Underwood accept, but he promised it would be a dinner at the world-famous restaurant Spagos.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To encourage higher bids on a private lunch with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/580-desmond-tutu&quot;&gt;Archbishop Desmond Tutu&lt;/a&gt;, Anderson jokingly suggested that the winner could take a picture with Tutu and put it on Myspace.com to be the envy of their friends.  The lunch went for $15,500.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Los Angeles-based non-profit organization &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ANSA&lt;/span&gt; was originally founded in 1989 by noted members of the entertainment community, with an initial goal of supporting the struggle against apartheid.  Over time, the organization&amp;#8217;s focus has shifted to the fight against the African &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; pandemic, advancing democracy, and equality in South Africa.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The effort to raise money is not over.  If you want help the cause their are several items available at the online auction.  To bid on the online items: www.charityfolks.com/ansa.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1199-affleck-tops-charity-stars-in-denver&quot;&gt;Affleck Tops Charity Stars in Denver&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1198-lance-armstrong-stands-up-to-cancer-tonight&quot;&gt;Lance Armstrong Stands Up To Cancer Tonight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1166-jeans-engineered-for-celebs-on-auction&quot;&gt;Jeans Engineered For Celebs On Auction&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1161-singers-combine-talents-to-support-americas-farmers&quot;&gt;Singers Combine Talents To Support America&#8217;s Farmers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1157-matt-damon-returns-for-one-x-one&quot;&gt;Matt Damon Returns For ONE X ONE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
  &lt;small&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Want to write for us, or help with our research?
      &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/contribute&quot;&gt;Find out more about contributing.&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      Copyright &amp;copy; 2007 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/&quot;&gt;Look To The Stars&lt;/a&gt;.
      This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your news reader,
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    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/small&gt;
&lt;/hr&gt;
</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:17:52 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/435</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/435-artists-come-out-to-shake-the-blues</link>
      <category>Alfre Woodard</category>
      <category>Anthony Anderson</category>
      <category>Blair Underwood</category>
      <category>Bob Dylan</category>
      <category>Carlos Santana</category>
      <category>Desmond Tutu</category>
      <category>Erykah Badu</category>
      <category>Forest Whitaker</category>
      <category>George Lopez</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Nikka Costa</category>
      <category>Samuel L. Jackson</category>
      <category>Artists for a New South Africa</category>
      <category>Treatment Action Campaign</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
      <category>AIDS</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>ANSA Shakes the Blues With Stars in Los Angeles</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;On Thursday, November 15, 2007, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/415-artists-for-a-new-south-africa&quot;&gt;Artists for a New South Africa&lt;/a&gt; (ANSA) will host &#8220;Shaking The Blues,&#8221; a star-studded benefit, at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.   The evening combines the power of music and activism to shake off our blues &#8211; from the personal to the global &#8211;  and make a difference in the world. The event will feature blues-influenced musical artists as well as a multi-cultural array of renowned entertainers who are donating their time and talents to the fight against &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;HIV&lt;/span&gt;/&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; in the US and Africa.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The event begins with a pre-show cocktail party for major donors at 6 PM. Shaking The Blues performances start at 7:45, immediately followed by a &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;VIP&lt;/span&gt; after-party. Those confirmed to appear include &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/858-erykah-badu&quot;&gt;Erykah Badu&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/859-nikka-costa&quot;&gt;Nikka Costa&lt;/a&gt;, Keb&#8217; Mo&#8217;, Taj Mahal Trio and The Roots, with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/860-ahmir-uestlove-thompson&quot;&gt;Ahmir &#8220;?uestlove&#8221; Thompson&lt;/a&gt; serving as the event&#8217;s musical director. Additional highlights include appearances by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/378-george-lopez&quot;&gt;George Lopez&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/683-jurnee-smollett&quot;&gt;Jurnee Smollett&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/857-blair-underwood&quot;&gt;Blair Underwood&lt;/a&gt; and other special guest stars soon to be announced.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Shaking The Blues, which continues ANSA&#8217;s tradition of presenting one unique and extraordinary major fundraiser annually, is chaired by Dianna Cohen &amp;amp; Jackson Browne, Myrna Colley-Lee &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/246-morgan-freeman&quot;&gt;Morgan Freeman&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/681-latanya-richardson&quot;&gt;LaTanya Richardson Jackson&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/121-samuel-l-jackson&quot;&gt;Samuel L. Jackson&lt;/a&gt;, Ann &amp;amp; George Lopez, Deborah Santana, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/682-alfre-woodard&quot;&gt;Alfre Woodard&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; Roderick Spencer and Keisha Nash-Whitaker &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/496-forest-whitaker.&#160;&quot;&gt;Forest Whitaker&lt;/a&gt; Host committee members include J.J. Abrams, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/383-gillian-anderson&quot;&gt;Gillian Anderson&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/867-johnny-clegg&quot;&gt;Johnny Clegg&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/46-danny-glover&quot;&gt;Danny Glover&lt;/a&gt;, Dul&#233; Hill, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/861-quincy-jones&quot;&gt;Quincy Jones&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/1390-norman-lear&quot;&gt;Norman Lear&lt;/a&gt;, Lebo M, Alexandra Paul, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/37-chris-rock&quot;&gt;Chris Rock&lt;/a&gt;, Cicely Tyson, Blair Underwood, Alice Walker, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/53-denzel-washington&quot;&gt;Denzel Washington&lt;/a&gt; and other luminaries.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#8220;Last year, &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ANSA&lt;/span&gt; was honored to host the 75th birthday celebration for our dear friend and advisor &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/580-desmond-tutu,&#8221;&quot;&gt;Archbishop Desmond Tutu&lt;/a&gt; said ANSA&#8217;s Executive Director Sharon Gelman.  &#8220;He embodies the belief that justice and love will ultimately triumph and maintains a remarkable sense of humor, even in the face of enormous challenges.  It is activists like him who inspire us to shake off the blues and take action to fix our world. That&#8217;s the spirit of Shaking the Blues, which promises to be one of ANSA&#8217;s best events ever.&#8221;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Proceeds from the event will support ANSA&#8217;s work in the US and Africa. &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ANSA&lt;/span&gt; will also donate a portion of the proceeds to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/669-treatment-action-campaign&quot;&gt;Treatment Action Campaign&lt;/a&gt;, the grassroots organization that is at the forefront of South Africa&#8217;s fight against &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Tickets range from $45 to $100, and are available through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com and (213) 480-3232. For major donor and &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;VIP&lt;/span&gt; tickets, ranging from $250 to $75,000, contact Blue Room Events: (310) 491-1401.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A Shaking The Blues online auction of one-of-a-kind items and experiences from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/20-bill-clinton&quot;&gt;President Bill Clinton&lt;/a&gt;, Denzel Washington, J.J. Abrams, Dul&#233; Hill, and many others, launched October 29 at www.charityfolks.com/ansa.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ANSA&lt;/span&gt; is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization working to combat &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;HIV&lt;/span&gt;/&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt;, safeguard voting rights and democracy, advance human rights and equality, and assist and empower &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; orphans and other at-risk youth.  By working in partnership with effective grassroots organizations and pivotal movements on the frontlines of these issues, &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ANSA&lt;/span&gt; makes a substantial difference.   Founded in 1989 to support South Africa&#8217;s quest to end apartheid and build a new democracy, &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ANSA&lt;/span&gt; is now dedicated to eradicating social and health inequities that are the legacies of apartheid, segregation, and generations of poverty.  In the past decade alone, &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;ANSA&lt;/span&gt; has raised $9 million for effective African programs, shipped 70 tons of medical supplies and books to impoverished communities, and educated millions of adults and young people in the US, South Africa, and across the African continent about &lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;HIV&lt;/span&gt;/&lt;span class=&quot;caps&quot;&gt;AIDS&lt;/span&gt; and voting rights. For more information go to www.ansafrica.org&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h6&gt;Related past articles&lt;/h6&gt;
&lt;ul class=&quot;item-links&quot;&gt;
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  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1184-denzel-donates-to-save-school-sports&quot;&gt;Denzel Donates to Save School Sports&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.looktothestars.org/news/1179-joss-stone-anita-baker-to-shine-for-uncfs-an-evening-of-stars&quot;&gt;Joss Stone, Anita Baker To Shine for UNCF's An Evening of Stars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
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      <pubDate>Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:42:33 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">urn:uuid:http://www.looktothestars.org/news/411</guid>
      <link>http://www.looktothestars.org/news/411-ansa-shakes-the-blues-with-stars-in-los-angeles</link>
      <category>Ahmir &#8220;?uestlove&#8221; Thompson</category>
      <category>Alfre Woodard</category>
      <category>Bill Clinton</category>
      <category>Blair Underwood</category>
      <category>Chris Rock</category>
      <category>Danny Glover</category>
      <category>Denzel Washington</category>
      <category>Desmond Tutu</category>
      <category>Erykah Badu</category>
      <category>Forest Whitaker</category>
      <category>George Lopez</category>
      <category>Gillian Anderson</category>
      <category>Johnny Clegg</category>
      <category>Jurnee Smollett</category>
      <category>LaTanya Richardson</category>
      <category>Morgan Freeman</category>
      <category>Nikka Costa</category>
      <category>Norman Lear</category>
      <category>Quincy Jones</category>
      <category>Samuel L. Jackson</category>
      <category>Artists for a New South Africa</category>
      <category>Treatment Action Campaign</category>
      <category>Celebrity</category>
      <category>Charity</category>
      <category>Philanthropy</category>
      <category>Giving</category>
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