Look To The Stars News: Wayne Gretzky

Tim Robbins To Play Charity Hockey Game

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:00 -0000

Actor and activist Tim Robbins is to join an impressive list of hockey players and celebrities in a charity ice hockey game next week.

The Festival Cup charity hockey game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto will take place on September 5, and will feature teams consisting of stars such as Alan Thicke, “Juno” director Jason Reitman, D.B. Sweeney, and Cameron Bancroft, as well as professional NHLers Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Curtis Joseph, Matt Stajan, Robyn Regehr, Mike Cammalleri, Andrew Ference, and Sean Avery.

The game – which will kick off the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival – will benefit Right To Play, an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play as a tool for the development of children and youth in the most disadvantaged areas of the world.

“I believe in the positive power of sport and play for children,” said Wayne Gretzky, Honorary Chair of Right To Play’s Canadian Advisory Board. “In addition to keeping kids out of trouble and engaging them in a constructive activity, sports teach children many lessons and values including teamwork and determination. The Festival Cup is a great opportunity to help support the important initiatives of Right To Play.”

Tickets cost $25, and are available through Ticketmaster.

Sports Stars To Raise Money To Cure Paralysis

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Sports luminaries and philanthropy icons will be recognized when they gather at the 23rd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner on Monday, September 22, at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Bob Costas has been named the Master of Ceremonies for the event which will benefit the Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis, a nonprofit organization that serves as the national fundraising arm of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis – the world’s largest, most comprehensive spinal cord injury research center.

This spectacular annual event is expected to sell out to over 1,300 guests and raise millions of dollars for spinal cord injury research. The event begins at 6:00 p.m. with a cocktail reception and silent auction, followed by dinner, which will include a live auction of one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia and other unique items.

“Each year we are honored by the presence of the most elite athletes in sports,” says Nick Buoniconti, founder of The Buoniconti Fund and defensive captain of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins. “This year’s group of honorees represent such a high caliber of sports, we are truly thrilled that they will be joining us for yet another spectacular event. We have made significant steps this year towards finding a cure for spinal cord injuries. That’s why we keep doing this.”

The 2008 Great Sports Legends that will be honored at the event and are expected to attend are: Andre Agassi – former world-ranked #1 professional tennis star, Jerry Rice – named All-Pro 10 times in his 20 NFL seasons, Scottie Pippen – seven-time NBA All Star, Joe Gibbs – Hall of Fame NFL coach and NASCAR Championship team owner, Helio Castroneves – winner of the Indianapolis 500 in both 2001 and 2002, Richard “Goose” Gossage – former New York Yankees pitcher, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini – World Boxing Association lightweight champion for two years in the 1980s, Angelo Dundee – boxing cornerman who has worked with 15 world boxing champions, and Gabrielle Reece – American professional volleyball player, sports presenter and former fashion model.

Over the past two decades, the Great Sports Legends Dinner has honored 337 of the world’s greatest athletes and individuals. They are recognized for their contributions to the world of sports and acknowledged for their commitment to high ethical standards, to their community, worthy causes and achievements as positive role models. Their participation has helped raise more than $40 million for The Miami Project’s spinal cord injury research programs. Former honorees include Magic Johnson, John Elway, Mark Messier, Gary Player, Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan, Mickey Mantle, Jack Nicklaus, Gloria Estefan, Muhammad Ali, Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Ewing, Walter Cronkite, Mia Hamm, Dan Marino, and Joe DiMaggio.

In 1985, Barth A. Green, MD, and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti helped found The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after Nick’s son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game. Today, The Miami Project is the world’s largest, most comprehensive spinal cord injury research center, housed in the Lois Pope LIFE Center, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The Miami Project’s international team of more than 200 scientists, researchers and clinicians take innovative approaches to the challenge of spinal cord injury. Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, the Buoniconti family established The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in 1992, a non-profit organization devoted to assisting The Miami Project achieve its national and international goals.

Tickets start at $850 per person. Sponsorships and opportunities to sit with Legends are available. Tables and tickets can be purchased by phone at (305) 243-4656, (212) 245-6570 or online at http://www.miamiproject.miami.edu/x1415.xml.

Tiger Woods Joins Sports Stars In Auction

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Sports stars Tiger Woods and Wayne Gretzky have donated items to an auction to benefit a Canadian charity that offers programs such as music therapy and physio-occupational therapy to more than 400 children a year.

Overlooking the shores of Okanagan Lake in Vernon, British Columbia, The Rise is a resort community that features a golf club, a private beach, a winery and vineyard, and a spectacular array of sought-after Okanagan real estate. This year it will hold its third Moonlight Serenade Charity Gala to raise money for the North Okanagan Neurological Association, an organization that aims to strengthen the abilities of children with special needs and enhance opportunities for them to participate in their community.

The Gala will include an auction that features an autographed photo donated by golf legend Tiger Woods and a jersey from “the greatest hockey player ever”, Wayne Gretzky. NHL stars Trevor Linden and Sidney Crosby have also donated signed jerseys to the auction.

“The business community in Vernon and the surrounding area has really rallied around this cause and are contributing to make this year’s gala the most successful one yet,” said Leona Snider, president of The Rise.

The Gala takes place at The Rise on August 23, and will include a champagne reception at 5 p.m. followed by a three-course dinner. Tickets cost $199, and more information can be found at the website.

Wayne Gretzky Helps Sick Single Mother

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky is leading the fight for a young single mother battling a chronic disease by donating items to a new online auction.

The 47-year-old Canadian ex-hockey player – once named the “greatest player of all time” in Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL – has put a signed jersey up for auction, and has been joined by a raft of current and former all-stars and Hall of Famers including Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Patrick Roy and Evgeni Malkin. Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre has also gifted a signed picture to the cause.

The proceeds from the auction will go to Katie Thomas, a 33-year-old geneticist from Denver, Colorado, who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2007. Unresponsive to traditional treatment, Katie is now showing progress in a unique clinical trial that is not covered by her health insurance, and the money raised will go towards her continued treatment.

The auction can be accessed via eBay, or to learn more about Katie and how you can help, visit www.helpkatiefight.org.

Celebs For Kids Makes A $7 Million Challenge

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Dozens of celebrities including actors Matt Damon, Cheech Marin, and Hockey Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr are helping to raise funds for a research centre dedicated to pediatric rheumatology at Canada’s B.C. Children’s Hospital

Inspired by Karim Chandani, founder of Celebs for Kids in partnership with the Arthritis Society of Canada and Lupus Canada, the $3.5 million project – the Ross Petty Research Chair in Paediatric Rheumatology – will address the enormous lack of knowledge about Lupus in both the medical field and the general public, and the fact that there is currently no such research or treatment facility in Canada.

According to lupus sufferer Dr Jan McCaffrey, lupus is difficult to diagnose or treat because it affects every patient differently and has only a fraction of the research or public awareness compared to that of other well-known diseases. It is an autoimmune disease that attacks healthy body systems and tissues, resulting in pain and organ damage. McCaffrey says, “If I had to write a bumper sticker for doctors and lupus with a view of helping diagnose patients sooner, I would say, ‘If it doesn’t make sense, think of lupus.’”

Celebs for Kids is Chandani’s response to his daughter’s lupus diagnosis last year. “It started out being about my daughter,” he says, “but it very quickly changed when I found out about the amount of kids who are affected.”

Celebs for Kids has three major fundraisers planned. Two will be in August: star-studded poker and golf tournaments hosted by Grant Fuhr, who has invited several friends to participate – including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Kevin Costner and Lil Jordan.

There promises to be a celebrity at each table, live entertainment and a fashion show at the funny money poker game on the 14th. The golf tournament the next day will offer things like $1 million dollar hole-in-one, luxury cars to win, prizes per hole ranging from $20,000 to $375,000, a dinner cruise and gala evening. “We have three levels at the River Rock where 700 guests can mix and mingle with tons of celebrities,” said Chandani. “We have spent no money. Everything has been sponsored or donated and it’s been absolutely amazing.”

The third fundraiser is the $7 million Facebook challenge, ongoing until December 2 where Facebookers can donate a dollar at a time, recruit their friends to do the same and spread the word.

Chandani says, “We are excited about the power social media networks have to create mass awareness and exposure for these diseases. I’m so motivated by this to make things happen and change things very quickly.”

Santana Plays Four Seasons Of Hope

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:36:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Guitarist and music legend Carlos Santana gave a special live performance to 650 guests at the seventh annual Four Seasons of Hope charity gala in New York on Sunday night.

The gala, hosted by Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor, and Live With Regis and Kelly’s Regis Philbin, recognized the charitable efforts of sports, entertainment, and political celebrities, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Wayne Gretzky, Arnold Palmer, Joe Torre, Boomer Esiason, and Dan Marino. The evening, which included an auction, raised over $1.1 million for a host of children’s charities, including the Arnold Palmer Foundation, the Boomer Esiason Foundation to Benefit Cystic Fibrosis, the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation, the Dan Marino Foundation, the Jason Taylor Foundation, the Michael Strahan Foundation, the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, and the Milagro Foundation.

“It is so rewarding to be able to come out and work with a first-class organization such as Samsung on a night like this,” said Santana. “We had a great crowd and were able to raise a lot of money for the charities Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope program supports. It’s not often you get such an eclectic group of athletes and celebrities together in one room, but when you do, special things happen and we were able to help a lot of children and families in need in the process.”

Launched in 2002 by Samsung Electronics America, Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope is an innovative goodwill program dedicated to raising awareness and funds through national retail initiatives with Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears and Staples, and has raised more than $12 million for a range of children’s charities.

Joe Pesci Joins Charity Golf Tournament

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:45:35 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Actor Joe Pesci and former NFL players Sterling Sharpe and Kordell Stewart have joined the line-up of celebrities for the 2008 BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament on May 15, while actors Samuel L. Jackson, David James Elliott, Kevin Sorbo, and Lucas Black have withdrawn.

“We are very excited to have Joe Pesci and Kordell Stewart joining the field for the first time and to have Sterling Sharpe return,” said Darin MacDonald, tournament director of the BMW Charity Pro-Am. “It is unfortunate to hear about Samuel L. Jackson, David James Elliott, Kevin Sorbo and Lucas Black, but we understand. They had committed to play, but apparently the shooting schedules of their new movies have changed. We understand that their work takes precedence, and we wish them all well with these productions.”

The celebrities now scheduled to compete in this year’s BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament are Joe Pesci, Dennis Quaid, Luke Wilson, Greg Kinnear, Kurt Russell, Catherine Bell, Wayne Gretzky, Janet Jones-Gretzky, Ty Gretzky, Dave Coulier, Stefanie Schaeffer, Patrick Warburton, Oliver Hudson, Michael Pena, Sterling Sharpe, Kordell Stewart, Jason Dohring, Josh Kelley, Cheech Marin, Javier Colon, Steve Azar, Gary Valentine, Mark Rypien, Branford Marsalis, Pat Green, George Rogers, Ben Wright, and Jennifer Mills. Winnings from the tournament will go to the winner’s charity of choice.

Fore!! Celebrities Hit The Green For Charity

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:19:05 -0000

Written by Richard Alan Krieger

BMW’s Golf Charity Event will be televised live on the Golf Channel from the Bright’s Creek Golf Club, N.C., on May 15-18, 2008. It will be the only U.S. Nationwide golf tournament where amateurs, celebrities, and pros gather together for charity.

The professional winner of the overall 72 hole event will take home $117,000 from the total purse of $650,000, which is one of the largest purses on the Nationwide Tour. Amateurs and celebrities will compete for individual prizes and cash donations to the charity of their choice out of the beneficiaries selected by South Carolina Charities. The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of America, and the Spartanburg Community College will also benefit from this event.

The first seven tournaments have raised more than $5.7 million for 80+ area charities.

The celebrities playing include Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Quaid, Luke Wilson, Greg Kinnear, Kurt Russell, Wayne Gretzky, Catherine Bell, David James Elliott, Janet Jones, Dave Coulier, Stefanie Schaeffer, Patrick Warburton, Oliver Hudson, Michael Pena, Jason Dohring, Kevin Sorbo, Josh Kelley, Cheech Marin, Javier Colon, Lucas Black, Steve Azar, Gary Valentine, Mark Rypien, Branford Marsalis, Pat Green, George Rogers, Ben Wright, and Jennifer Mills. Those with the 14 lowest scores from Thursday-Friday-Saturday will advance to Sunday’s final round.

Steve Nash Celebrity Roast a Success

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:03:03 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

On October 12, 2007, at Scottsdale’s Hotel Valley Ho, Steve Nash hosted his inaugural Celebrity Roast to benefit the Steve Nash Foundation. More than 200 guests shelled out $1,500 each to attend a poolside dinner, celebrity shoot-out, a silent & live auction, and special concert by Grammy winner John Legend.

“Roast me, toast me,” said Nash before the event, “Our new platform in Phoenix is education, primarily for at-risk kids.” Nash, who was just named one of 2007’s Most Caring Athletes by USA WEEKEND, remains humble and sincere even when being roasted by his celebrity guests. Phoenix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky took to the stage and roasted his fellow Canadian. “In Canada, for basketball, Steve has done what Tiger Woods has done for golf in the US,” praised Gretzky. Nash was also praised by Raja Bell, Sun great Eddie Johnson, his coaches- Dick Davey from Santa Clara University and Sun’s coach Mike D’Anotoni, and former Sun Dan Majerle, who was the first to arrive: “Steve is a great guy,” said Majerle. “He’s been called the greatest basketball player ever to come out of Canada. But can anybody name anybody else? Seriously?” asked Majerle. Suns teammate Raja Bell: “Phoenix has benefited tremendously from having him (Nash) here and will continue to do so,” Bell said. ”He’s a tremendous asset to the city.”

Guests enjoyed a four-course poolside meal prepared by celebrated chef Charles Wiley while listening to Grammy Award winner John Legend perform. Legend set the ambiance with his smooth vocals and piano playing before taking part in the ‘celebrity shootout’. Hugo Boss president and CEO Tony Lucia offered to donate $200 for every basket made during the chaotic 45-seconds. NBA players and celeb’s lined up to take shots, but Legend was a bit hesitant. “I like to follow the games, especially during the play-offs,” said Legend. “But, I only occasionally play because I’m not that fast or that tall.” After a little prodding, Legend took the ball and contributed two of the 40 shots made, raising a total of $8,000 from Lucia.

Steve’s sister, Joann Nash, said that her brother is low-key. “He’s pretty goofy and has known to be a little funny after a few cocktails,” she said. “But, he’s never done anything too embarrassing.” Nash had a chance that evening, when Walt Brown, CEO of Diversified Partners, tried to entice someone to bid on the chance to see Suns star Shawn Marion and Nash jump in the pool. He told guests, “What happens at the Valley Ho stays at the Valley Ho.” Unfortunately, there were no takers.

Auction item included trips to Italy, the Masters Golf Tournament and a San Diego Chargers home game, but the most coveted item wasn’t listed as ‘up for bids’. During the silent auction, Jeff and Stacey Feinberg spontaneously bid $60,000 to have Nash sit with them during a break in the show, adding a delightful twist to very successful charity event.

Formed in 2001 and given charitable status in 2004, the Steve Nash Foundation is a 501©(3) organization dedicated to assisting underserved children in their health, personal development, education and enjoyment of life. Like its NBA MVP founder, the Foundation is fast becoming a leader in assists to a slightly shorter population.

Through grants to public service and nonprofit entities, the Foundation aims to grow health in kids by funding projects that provide services to children affected by poverty, illness, abuse, or neglect, and create opportunity for education, play, and empowerment. The Foundation focuses its resources on communities in Phoenix, Arizona, and British Columbia, Canada, but has recently begun to expand its scope to include areas of high need in other countries.

Stars Deliver For Literacy Charities

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 10:43:34 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Kate Winslet, Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Pryce and Phil Collins are among 40 celebrities who have donated their time and artistic skills to the UK Pitney Bowes Pushing the Envelope campaign.

The stars have each decorated an envelope in order to raise funds for the National Literacy Trust, and the unique framed art is available on eBay until the 20th of October.

This is the third year that the campaign has taken place, and organisers are hoping it will be as successful as last year’s auction, which raised over £11,000 for the Trust.

Pushing the Envelope usually involves simultaneous auctions around the world, with the money raised in each country going to support local literacy programs. This year Katie Melua has created an envelope for the auction taking place in France, which benefits Asmae and their work with children in the Phillipines.

In past years Pitney Bowes has sponsored auctions in the U.S. and Canada as well, featuring art from Halle Berry, Mike Myers, Lindsay Lohan and Sharon Stone for the U.S. auctions, and from Alex Trebek and Wayne Gretzky in the Canadian events. The charities to benefit from those auctions included First Book, the National Center for Family Literacy, ProLiteracy Worldwide, Reading Is Fundamental, and ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation.

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