Look To The Stars News: Kate Hudson

Star-Studded Event Honors CNN Everyday Heroes

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0000

This year’s CNN Heroes event featured a host of famous presenters including Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Randy Jackson, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez and Julia Louis Dreyfus.

Presented by Anderson Cooper, the third annual event honored the top 10 CNN Everyday Heroes of 2009, and was taped in front of an audience of 2,500 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Performances by Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood and R&B singer Maxwell enhanced the evening, which took place on November 21 and will be broadcast on CNN on November 26.

The winners of the awards were selected by a panel that included Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Malaak Compton-Rock, Kirk Cameron, Masi Oka, Shakira, Ted Turner and Colin Powell.

The honorees – as listed by CNN – were:

Brad Blauser is providing hope and mobility to disabled children and their families in Iraq. Since 2005, his Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids program has distributed nearly 650 free pediatric wheelchairs to children in need.  
Roy Foster started Stand Down House to help veterans struggling with addiction and homelessness in Florida. Since 2000, his program has provided life-changing services to nearly 900 veterans. 
Doc Hendley is providing clean water to communities worldwide. Through creative fundraising, his nonprofit Wine to Water has brought sustainable water systems to 25,000 people in five countries. 
Breast cancer survivor Andrea Ivory is bringing early detection to the doorsteps of uninsured women. With mobile mammography vans, her group has provided more than 500 free screenings in Miami, Florida. 
Zimbabwe native Betty Makoni founded the Girl Child Network to provide a haven for young victims of sexual abuse. The organization has rescued more than 35,000 girls since 2001.  
 School bus driver Jorge Munoz is helping hungry New Yorkers make it through tough times. Since 2004, he has handed out more than 70,000 meals from his mobile soup kitchen in Queens — for free.  
Efren Peñaflorida gives Filipino youth an alternative to gang membership through education. His Dynamic Teen Company’s 10,000 members have taught basic reading and writing to 1,500 kids living in the slums. 
 Budi Soehardi founded a children’s home in one of the poorest areas of Indonesia. Today, Roslin Orphanage in West Timor provides food, shelter and education to more than 45 children.  
 Derrick Tabb started The Roots of Music to give young people an alternative to New Orleans’ streets. His music education program provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students. 
Jordan Thomas, 20, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, lost both of his legs in a boating accident in 2005. Since then, his Jordan Thomas Foundation has raised more than $400,000 to provide prosthetics for children in need.

Each of the top 10 Heroes receives $25,000, with the top Hero – Efren Peñaflorida – winning $100,000.

“With the recognition they receive on our stage,” said Anderson Cooper, “they’ll be able to help thousands and thousands of people. Through their efforts, lives will be changed and lives will be saved.”

To find out more about the winners, visit the CNN Heroes website.

Judd Apatow To Be Honored By Fulfillment Fund

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann will be honored at the Fulfillment Fund’s annual STARS Gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel on October 26.

Each year, the Fulfillment Fund’s STARS gala honors a leader in the entertainment industry for extraordinary generosity and philanthropic involvement.

STARS has been recognized as one of the top five most successful annual fundraising events in Southern California, raising up to $2 million each fall to support programs offered through the Fulfillment Fund.

Judd is a leading force in the world of comedy and has been recognized for his work as a producer and writer on many critically acclaimed television shows. Leslie has been making audiences laugh for years, starring in recent hits such as “17 Again.” Together, Leslie and Judd have demonstrated a commitment to philanthropy through their support of organizations for the homeless and 826 LA, a writing and tutoring center for disadvantaged youth.

The STARS 2009 Gala will also include a special presentation of the Gitnick Visionary Award to Jana Waring Greer, President and CEO of SunAmerica Retirement Markets.

The Fulfillment Fund has three main goals: 1) Help disadvantaged students graduate from high school; 2) Increase the number who go on to college; and 3) Help them successfully complete college and transition into the working world.

Leading celebrities and comedians have served as entertainers and presenters at STARS including Christian Bale, Warren Beatty, Kate Beckinsale, Annette Bening, Jamie Foxx, Kate Hudson, Salma Hayek, Quincy Jones, Steve Martin, Tim McGraw, John Mellencamp, Mike Myers, Sidney Poitier, Chris Rock, Seth Rogen, Sinbad, Will Smith, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Denzel Washington and Stevie Wonder.

STARS 2008 raised over $1.6 million to benefit the Fulfillment Fund’s programs.  The event honored Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures and included award presentations to Wells Fargo Regional President Shelley Freeman and Fulfillment Fund Founding CEO Andrea Cockrum. Special guests included Ryan Seacrest who served as Master of Ceremonies, as well as Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale who both made special appearances.

To find out more about this year’s event and how you can attend, click here.

Look To The Stars Asks Amy Sewell

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:38:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

Amy Sewell is the creator/writer/producer of Paramount’s 2005 crowd-pleasing documentary, Mad Hot Ballroom_. Her directorial debut, "_What’s Your Point, Honey?":http://www.whatsyourpointhoney.com/front, puts a new face on political leadership by introducing seven possible female contenders coming down the pipeline, while revealing inequalities that still exist today. What’s Your Point, Honey? is now showing in theaters across the US in special ‘one-night only exclusive’ events.

Tell us a little bit about What’s Your Point, Honey?

One big premise of the movie is that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. The idea started when my daughter told me I couldn’t ride a motorcycle because she’s never seen a woman on a motorcycle. And I thought what else is out there that they’re not seeing, that they would never even think possible because its just isn’t in front of them. The movie itself is really like a picture in the moment in time, it’s a mirror on society – about the next generation of women, where we are and where we’re going. It’ll make you laugh, kinda make you cry, it’s not hard hitting, it’s very much like ‘Mad Hot Ballroom’. If you want to get more out of it, it definitely runs deep, you can find all the metaphors that run throughout or you can just go along and look at the portraits of the seven possible future presidential candidates. So it’s light, I always say my style of film making is ‘doc-light.’

What’s idea behind ‘exclusive’ one-night-only screenings?

It’s being released in theaters in these one-night-only exclusive events, where you can also purchase a copy of the DVD, because there’s no reason for us to get involved with box office numbers and compete with ‘Indiana Jones’ or ‘Iron Man.’ We care about reach, and the best reach is to have people watch the DVD and start the conversation in their community.

Six years ago, with the support of the The White House Project, “Cosmo Girl!” launched “Project 2024” to get more young women involved in politics. How has this helped the cause?

When we had the seven young woman through the ‘White House Project’ and ‘Cosmo Girl’ they became more tangible, more achievable role models. Basically on our website we list what their strengths are, and I always think if we put all of them together we’d have an ideal president. But our message is, it’s not about one, each of them bring something to the table – the day we see just as many women on the debate podium is the day we get beyond gender to agenda.

At the recent ‘Women in Entertainment Production Panel’, you mentioned that after the attacks on 9/11, you started covering the kids angle – what third graders would do if they could rebuild the buildings. What, if anything, did you learn from these kids?

Basically, kids just think honestly. One kid wanted to rebuild the buildings out of rubber so the planes would bounce off it next time, and another kid said he wanted to rebuild it with holes in it so the planes could fly through. And at that moment, I realized it’s the best state to be in – a kind of kids state – because they rarely think about obstacles or barriers. They don’t have any filters. It was probably more of an influence than anything on making me think well – we really are prisoners to our own definitions or societies definitions. It’s exhausting to have those things around really, why can’t we just ignore them?

How do you feel about the TV/Media fueling inequalities? For example, ‘Americas Next Top Model’- are we creating the next generation of Paris Hilton’s, or are we empowering young woman?

I think we have to counter that and fight it. So by me putting seven awesome young women up on the big screen and saying these are role models, and not letting my kids read magazines where they make Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears role models, I hope I’m doing my part. But what I think we have to do is celebrate those who are good role models. I’m trying to emphasis the positive people who make positive choices.

Who would you most like young women to look up to or be inspired by?

Gosh, there are so many. I think there are ton of women athletes out there. I think you have to go to some of the different levels – go to the smaller games, not the ‘star’ games. I know they are out there, and I think we always have to be on the lookout to find them. My family and I go to a ton of college games or high school games and we look for the real life heroes. I think the more and more we get our kids into contributing to our society in a healthy way – whatever that means – then they won’t really care about the Britney’s. We [her family] love Angelina Jolie and Natalie Portman. Hanna Montana said she made a mistake and I still think she’s an OK role model, but she gave us an opportunity to talk about it. We love Raven. We love America Ferrera. Any of the younger kids have to be smart enough not to be persuaded to do crazy things by their managers. We also love Kate Hudson, especially when she and her mother speak out about women’s issues.

You mentioned female athletes? Where do sports fit into the equality issue?

The next generation – which we show in the film – includes sports and fathers. Sports teach us how to compete, fall, get up, not cry, and learn to not only lose – which is important – but win really well and triumphantly with no apologies. Fathers – while they may not care if their wives, mothers or sisters are being treated equally – it’s hell or come high water if their daughters are treated differently, and so regardless of the fathers actual involvement, their daughters will pick up that mentality and she’ll bring it into the business world, into the sports world, into the military and into politics.

Tell us a bit about your new book, “She’s Out There! The Next Generation of Presidential Candidates”?

It’s going to be released April 9. It’s about 35 women under the age of 35 who aspire to lead and possibly run for President. They write their own essays and I took a photographer around the country with me and we took pictures of these women doing what they do everyday. So the premise of the book is: you don’t know if she’s sitting next to you, you don’t know if it’s your neighbor down the block – the fact is that there are going to be a lot more women out there who want to run for office, it’s the beginning of the next generation of candidates.

Politics seem to be a sort of ‘men-club’, so I’m curious how receptive the ‘men in charge’ will be– and what effect, if any, have you noticed since Hillary decided to run for President? Are women going to be equal in the political arena?

I think that will happen naturally, it’s happening already. I think if you think about what is happening – there are 75% of women who fill the political positions of their fathers or husbands after they died, those are the women that are in there now. And I think it will be a long time before we see a group of women march forward running for office. We’ll have to see in 2012, I hope it would be sooner, but I actually don’t think that men have a choice about what’s happening now. For the last 40 years we’ve waited to become equal and I think that waiting is over, we’ve realized that they haven’t given it to us. So I think those days are over and that men need to join in because they will be facing female opponants and Hillary was just the beginning of showing us that we can hang with the big dogs.

What are some of the more important issues/problems with inequality?

We need three things. Equal pay. I’m willing to hang out at 77-cents to the white man’s dollar until our black sisters at 67-cents catch up – until our hispanic sisters at 57-cents catch up, and once we are all making 77-cents, we can all march to the block because I don’t want to leave them behind. Feminism is not a white women’s sport, it’s just we don’t have the double whammy of racism. The second thing is ownership of body – the fact and mentality that we are treated like property. If men got pregnant, no governement in the world would tell them what they could do with their bodies. The third thing is child care and elder care. It does fall primarily on women, and we are devalued because of it. If men had these responsibilites fall to them, corporations and government would help. Corporations would come up with perks to keep their men employed – their talent at the office – and the government would help out knowing they didn’t want to lose a valuable sector of the work force. I try to keep it simple on these three things, let’s get that acommplished and then move on.

You are also one of the founders/directors of the nonprofit organization Give It Up for the ARTS! Tell us about more about your involvement and the vision/work of the organization?

It’s to expose children who are at-risk or in a school which may be impoverished… to the arts. It’s dance, drama, music, fine arts, and usually we find a grass roots group, somebody out there working their butt off trying to bring something to a group of kids in at-risk neighborhoods. And that’s who I write a check to every year, and that’s who we look for.

Look to the Stars and Delinda thank Amy Sewell for speaking with us. For more information, please visit What’s Your Point, Honey.

Kate Hudson Launches Cruelty Free & Eco-Friendly Hair Products

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:22:06 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

Kate Hudson has teamed up with hairdresser David Babaii to launch a new line of cruelty free, environmentally friendly hair care products, with 10% of the profits going to the wildlife charity WildAid.

“I’ve been asked to do a lot of campaigns in the past and this feels like the perfect fit for me,” said Hudson. “And the fact that we can do it in an ecologically responsible and animal-friendly manner that can help preserve wildlife is what makes this truly special.”

Hudson, who spent two years developing the line, decided to create the WildAid range partly out of a concern for the chemicals contained in some hair products.

“All these things we use to penetrate the scalp and our skin – some of them are the worst things we can put on our body,” she told USA Today. “There are a lot of carcinogens.”

The WildAid products are 100% free of sulfates, parabens, petrochemicals and animal products.

“It’s very difficult to make a purely organic product that can pass the sustainability test and that can have a shelf life, but we came up with our shampoos, and we did it. It lathers, it works. I use it, and it doesn’t have all the bad stuff in it.”

The success of the WildAid brand has even prompted Hudson to take on a bigger task – her own line of natural cosmetics.

“I can understand why a lot of people don’t do it. It takes a little more money and more time. I’ve had opportunities to do beauty campaigns, and I’ve always thought, ’I’m not a model.’ I just felt I was endorsing a product I didn’t know anything about or love — that felt weird to me.”

Kate Hudson Gets Styled for WildAid

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:14:53 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Actress Kate Hudson will be featured in celebrity hairstylist David Babaii’s new line of hair care and styling products, DAVID BABAII FOR WILDAID. The products contain natural ingredients and are free of sulfates, chemical preservatives, animal products and animal testing.

Additionally, a percentage of the revenue from the sales of Babaii’s products will be donated to the wildlife conservation organization WildAid. WildAid, who campaigns worldwide to end illegal wildlife trade, works with governments and communities to raise awareness and stop the buying of endangered wild animals and products.

“I’ve been asked to do a lot of campaigns in the past and this feels like the perfect fit for me,” says Hudson. “The fact that we can do it in an ecologically responsible and animal-friendly manner that can help preserve wildlife is what makes this truly special.”

Together, Hudson and Babaii celebrate “the nature in beauty and the beauty in nature.”

Look To The Stars News: Kate Hudson

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