Look To The Stars News: Shoe4Africa

NYC Marathon Attracts Celebrities For Charity

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The NYC Marathon took place last Sunday, and what a race! The NYC Marathon is one of the most difficult marathon courses around. However, that didn’t stop a long list of celebrities, athletes and even royalty from training and putting on their running shoes to benefit a long list of charities.

If we talked about them all, this article would be encyclopedic. To remedy that, here is the link to the NYC Marathon’s Famous Faces 2009 webpage which notes them all.

However, let’s talk about 10 of them. That’s a nice round number that captures both the breadth and diversity of charities represented in last week’s race.

Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winning actor Edward Norton ran for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. What’s interesting is he didn’t run the race alone: he ran with a group of 30. This group included other celebrities and several Maasai warriors. In addition, Norton has been promoting awareness of this charity via his Twitter stream. Seven-time Grammy Award winner Alanis Morissette also ran to benefit the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, as did illusionist extraordinaire David Blaine, who ran 26.2 miles for the Trust.

 ER actor Anthony Edwards also ran the marathon. Edwards is the chairman of Shoe4Africa. He ran to raise funds for the new hospital in Kenya that Shoe4Africa will fund.

Model, actress, editor and author Veronica Webb ran to raise money for the Harlem United Community AIDS Center.

Robert Herjavec, a successful businessman and one of the sharks on ABC’s reality TV show “Shark Tank”, ran to raise funds for Team for Kids.

British TV personality, model and pop star Michelle Heaton ran to help Autism Action, a UK charity.  

Speedskating Olympic gold medalist Dan Jansen ran for ING Run for Something Better team. Pro-hockey player Pat LaFontaine also ran to benefit the ING Run for Something Better team.

Prince of the Netherlands and excutive, Prince Pieter Christiaan Michiel, ran to raise money for the WWF.

Be sure to click over to the Famous Faces 2009 site to read about the other celebrity participants and their charities. It’s simply inspiring to see so many notable people out there to help those less fortunate.

Anthony Edwards Busy With Charity Initiatives

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

E.R. star Anthony Edwards has announced that $1 from every ticket sold to his new film Motherhood via website Fandango.com – during the film’s first two weeks – will go to charity.

The actor has revealed how his sister is a breast cancer survivor and he is thrilled the campaign will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  

“It’s fantastic,” he said. "Obviously breast cancer affects a lot of women in America. I have a sister who’s a survivor. People uniting together and raising money and awareness this way is hugely important and it seems right on with Motherhood.
 
“It’s not a gimmick. It’s a real thing and we can celebrate motherhood and the challenges that go right along with it, so I think Fandango stepping up and Susan Komen being the benefactor is fantastic.”

 Edwards has also revealed that he will take part in the New York Marathon on November 1 for Shoe4Africa – an organization for which he sits on the Board of Directors – which aims for empowerment through sports & education, creating unique health initiatives, and promoting Aids awareness.  

“The big project in my life right now is raising money to build the first public children’s hospital in Kenya through an organization called Shoe4Africa. We use running as a medium to bring women together and empower women in Africa to run for health initiatives and AIDS education. I’m running on November 1st with 30 people to raise awareness and funds.”

Anthony Edwards' African Mission

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

The last time “ER” fans saw Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene was in 2002, when his character died. But last week, Edwards reprised his role and Dr. Greene reappeared during a series of flashbacks to when he was still alive.

What would prompt the actor to reprise his role? Because he saw a way to help countless children in Kenya.

For the past three years, Edwards has worked with Shoe4Africa, a non-profit dedicated to empowering Africans by providing them with running shoes, educating them about AIDS, and – in its largest project to-date – building a $15M children’s’ hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.

“When your overall mission is to help and empower people, a hospital just makes sense,” Edwards says. “It’s an essential element of health.”

Warner Bros. approached Edwards about playing Dr. Greene, and Edwards agreed with the stipulation that the production studio would donate $125,000 to the hospital. The studio agreed and inspired others to donate, including a $125,000 gift from Steven Spielberg and $50,000 from the producer John Wells.

Edwards estimates the hospital will be built by 2010, and when it opens its doors, the 250-bed Shoe4Africa Children’s Hospital will be one of the largest in the world.

Shoe4Africa also plans to build a sports complex and a shoe factory, while increasing their outreach in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda, among other nations. The shoe factory is key, says Edwards: “Living in densely populated slums without water, clean food or shoes, many Africans are forced to walk barefoot on disease-ridden roads. Once infected with hookworm, a person is much more susceptible to HIV, allowing the virus to spread even more rampantly than it does already. Giving a poor child or adult something as simple as a pair of shoes can make all the difference in the world. Shoes are like soap, a basic element that we take for granted, but without which we get sick and die.”

Edwards has always been more than happy to use his celebrity to raise awareness, “It’s one thing to write a check to a charity, but it’s much more fulfilling to get involved.”

Edwards is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Shoe4Africa. He is also one of their Ambassadors, as is actress Natalie Portman.

ER's Anthony Edwards Returns For Charity

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Viewers of ER would have noticed the return of a favorite character in the latest episode that screened in the US last night, November 13. Dr Mark Greene, played by Anthony Edwards, made a welcome return after being killed off 8 years ago – and he has donated his appearance fee to charity.

The episode centered on Dr. Cate Banfield, played by Angela Bassett, and her attempts to revive a little girl submerged under Lake Michigan for 20 minutes. The storyline recalled a similar crisis in which Dr. Greene has to to save another child whose plight seemed helpless, and how that incident inspired Banfield in her career.

For Edwards, the chance to appear once more on the long-running hospital drama came at a perfect time for a project he was considering with Shoe4Africa, a charity that encourages empowerment through sports & education, creates unique health initiatives, and promotes Aids awareness.

“I was about to launch a big fundraising campaign to build the largest children’s hospital in Africa with the charity I work with,” he told SunSentinel.com. “So, in lieu of payment, they gave the hospital $125,000. [”Steven Spielberg":http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/109-steven-spielberg] found out and he matched it. And [ER executive producer] John Wells kicked in $50,000. So, for me it was really great, because there are two things really dear to me: the experience I had for eight years, which certainly changed my life, being on the show, then this whole new part of my life, which… has to do with children’s health and Africa. So, it was really a win-win for me."

ER was created by novelist Michael Crichton – who died from cancer last week – and is currently in its final season after 15 seasons.

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