Look To The Stars News: WhyHunger

WhyHunger Celebrates Successful Hungerthon

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:30:00 +0000

2011 marks a banner year for WhyHunger with the most successful Hungerthon in the annual event’s 26-year history! Aided by its partners at SiriusXM, CBS Radio (including NYC’s WFAN 660 and WCBS 880), and charitybuzz, WhyHunger raised a record $764,000 for the fight against hunger and poverty, via its online auction and two-day radiothon.

This year’s top Hungerthon earners, some of which brought in bids over $20,000, included:

Bruce Springsteen-autographed guitar

Imagine There's No Hunger With Yoko Ono

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:45:00 +0000

On November 1st, Yoko Ono Lennon, Hard Rock International and WhyHunger invited the world to join them as they launched Imagine There’s No Hunger, a global campaign to raise awareness and funding for the fight against childhood hunger and poverty.

At Hard Rock Cafe New York in Times Square, Yoko Ono Lennon, joined by Hamish Dodds, President and CEO of Hard Rock International and Bill Ayres, Executive Director of WhyHunger, showed her support by providing the first “Tweet” in a Global Movement to “Imagine a World Without Hunger.” The event was also marked by a moment of silence and white balloons, a tribute to John Lennon’s release of 365 balloons during his and Yoko Ono Lennon’s first full art exhibition.

Celebrating John Lennon’s extraordinary vision articulated in his 1971 release “Imagine,” the campaign, which runs through December 31, 2011, invites fans to participate by taking a moment to Imagine a nourished and abundant world, where “the world will live as One.” Fans can further show their support by purchasing the campaign’s signature limited-edition bracelet, joining in the celebrations at various Hard Rock locations around the globe, tweeting, posting or even texting the word IMAGINE to 50555 to donate directly to WhyHunger.org and help feed a hungry child.

Harry Chapin's Charity Legacy Lives On

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:00:00 +0000

July marked the 30th anniversary of musician and social activist Harry Chapin’s untimely death.

The anniversary fell on the heels of WhyHunger’s 12th annual awards ceremony to honor individuals dedicated to issues surrounding food both nationally and globally.

WHY is the charity that Chapin co-founded to advance long-term solutions to hunger and poverty. Actor Christopher Walken spoke at the event and artist and activist Harry Belafonte also attended the celebration.

Get Tickets To Private Tim McGraw Show In Charity Auction

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:30:00 +0000

WhyHunger is auctioning off two tickets to see Tim McGraw in a rare and private concert at the Beacon Theater in New York this week, but you must be quick to make a bid – the auction only has a few more hours to run!

The concert, which will be broadcast live on Wednesday, April 27 at 7:30 pm ET, will feature the superstar performing songs from his 11 #1 country albums. The private concert will also include performances by Luke Bryan and The Band Perry, who will join McGraw on his upcoming national “Emotional Traffic” tour. The concert will air nationwide live on three SiriusXM channels: “Tim McGraw Radio,” The Highway and Prime Country.

Founded 35 years ago by long-time NYC radio host Bill Ayres and musician Harry Chapin, WhyHunger was created to address hunger issues and to take on long-term solutions to end the cycle of poverty in the US. Their focus is self-reliance as the root cause of hunger is poverty and root cause of poverty is powerlessness. WhyHunger’s niche is community based organizations — they partner with these grassroots campaigns to make sure they have the resources, the education and the support to succeed.

Music Legends Support Hungerthon Celebrity Charity Auction

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Some of music’s legendary performers have come together as part of a special celebrity charity auction for Hungerthon.

Hungerthon was started in 1975 as a partnership between WhyHunger and Infinity Broadcasting and has since expanded to become an autumn radio tradition among the New York tri-state area radio stations in the CBS, Clear Channel and Emmis Radio Groups, and Sirius XM Satellite Radio, with support from Citadel New York stations, Last.FM and more.

WhyHunger is a leader in building the movement to end hunger and poverty by connecting people to nutritious, affordable food and by supporting grassroots solutions that inspire self-reliance and community empowerment. WhyHunger was founded in 1975 by the singer-songwriter Harry Chapin and radio talk-show host and current Executive Director Bill Ayres.

Pete Seeger Among Honorees At Charity Dinner

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:00:00 +0000

On Tuesday, June 21st, WhyHunger held its annual Why-Chapin Awards Dinner.

The event took place in NYC at Gotham Hall, steps from Times Square. The event commemorated WhyHunger’s 35th anniversary and paid tribute to its 2010 award honorees, and the annual dinner was hosted by three-time Grammy Award winner Tom Chapin.

The honorees included legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, who received the WhyHunger-Chapin Award. Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson were honored with the ASCAP-Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award. In addition, the Chicago-based non-profit, Growing Home, also received the WhyHunger – Chapin Award.

Pete Seeger To Be Honored By WHY Hunger

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:30:00 +0000

WHY Hunger will celebrate its 35th anniversary at a special event on June 21.

The organization will pay tribute to the 2010 award honorees Pete Seeger and Growing Home, who will receive the WhyHunger-Chapin Award; and Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson, who will be honored with the ASCAP-Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award. These awards will be given in recognition of their inspiring work and dedication on issues of hunger and poverty on a local, national and global level. The annual dinner will be hosted by three-time Grammy Award winner Tom Chapin.

Paul McCartney Talks Greener Music Festivals

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Paul McCartney is headlining the Isle Of Wight Festival this Sunday, and has expressed his concern for the impact music festivals have on the environment. As a result of this, Eco Action has partnered with the Isle of Wight Festival to raise the profile of climate change, sustainability and environmental responsibility.

“It’s great that the Isle of Wight Festival has initiated such change over the last few years in making the event as ‘green’ as possible,” said Sir Paul. “I’m glad that winning the Greener Festival Award last year has helped to encourage them to take further action in 2010. It is fantastic for artists like myself to see festival organizers investing in ways to reduce their C02 emissions and taking responsibility for the environment. Not only will this approach encourage others in the music industry to look at best-practice but it will also highlight to audiences that the times they are a-changin’ and we all have to do our bit at events such as these as well as at home.”

The Beatles legend has also personally created and designed an exclusive T-shirt for the Hard Rock Calling 2010 signature series. The proceeds of which will benefit Why Hunger, a charitable organization focusing on finding a solution to hunger and poverty. The T-shirts will be launched and available for purchase at Paul’s headlining gig in Hyde Park on 27th June.

Hard Rock Serves Up John Lennon For Charity

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Last week, Look To The Stars brought you the news that Yoko Ono had donated John Lennon’s Give Peace A Chance to charity. Now we can reveal that she has also donated another of the singer’s songs to another charity campaign.

The World Hunger Year (WHY), along with Hard Rock Cafe, has released Serve4, the latest in their series of albums designed to fight hunger around the world. Yoko Ono has donated John Lennon’s Gimme Some Truth to the album.

“This is a beautiful step towards world peace,” she said. “By imagining there’s no hunger, like what John sang in his song, we express our strong desire to bring a world in which children will never again suffer from hunger or poverty. Let’s come together and help spread this message around the world. John would have loved the fact that so many illustrious and good meaning partners and organizations have stood up to make this effort together.”

Sopranos Star Rocks The Hard Rock For Charity

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Sopranos star Vincent Pastore will host a special event for World Hunger Year (WHY) tonight, October 22.

WHY Guys Rock The Hard Rock will kick off the 2009 Hungerthon at the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square with a huge number of bands and performers. From 6pm till midnight the stage will be quaking with bands such as Gary US Bonds, Willie Nile, Jackie Martling, La Dolce Vita with Michael Imperioli, Joe D’Urso and Stone Caravan, Tom Chapin, Jen Chapin, Big John Wallace, Chris Brown and Bookends, Kate Taylor, and The Bada Bing Boys with Vin Pastore himself … plus some surprise guests.

WHY was formed in 1975 by Bill Ayres, a radio talk-show host, and singer/songwriter Harry Chapin. Chapin’s daughter, Jen, who features in tonight’s concert, said that her father “saw hunger and poverty as an insult to America”. Many of his concerts were benefit performances for the 82 charities he was known to support, and the sales of all his concert merchandise were donated directly to WHY. At the time of his death in 1981, it was discovered that Chapin had donated almost all of his personal fortune to charity. Today, WHY is an international non-profit organization that connects grass roots charities to funding expertise and publicity.

Bruce Springsteen Donates Tickets To World Hunger Year

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Bruce Springsteen is set to be one of the last acts to ever play at Giants Stadium, and now is your chance to bid on tickets to help charity.

Springsteen and the E Street Band will hit the stage at the stadium on October 3, and tickets sold out in a matter of minutes to this exclusive event. However, The Boss is giving you the chance to pick up special tickets for some of the best seating.

Proceeds from the auction will go to World Hunger Year (WHY), an organization formed in 1975 by Bill Ayres, a radio talk-show host, and singer/songwriter Harry Chapin. Chapin saw hunger and poverty as an insult to America. Many of his concerts were benefit performances for the 82 charities he was known to support, and the sales of all his concert merchandise were donated directly to WHY. At the time of his death in 1981, it was discovered that Chapin had donated almost all of his personal fortune to charity. Today, WHY is an international non-profit organization that connects grass roots charities to funding expertise and publicity.

Wyclef Jean To Be Honored By World Hunger Year

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Wyclef Jean will receive a special award for helping impoverished communities at this year’s World Hunger Year (WHY) Chapin awards.

The awards – which will take place at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers in New York City tonight, June 8 – will honor Jean’s work in his native Haiti to aid the poverty-stricken country.

WHY was formed in 1975 by Bill Ayres, a radio talk-show host, and singer/songwriter Harry Chapin. Chapin saw hunger and poverty as an insult to America. Many of his concerts were benefit performances for the 82 charities he was known to support, and the sales of all his concert merchandise were donated directly to WHY. At the time of his death in 1981, it was discovered that Chapin had donated almost all of his personal fortune to charity. Today, WHY is an international non-profit organization that connects grass roots charities to funding expertise and publicity.

John Lennon Serves Up Song For Charity CD

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Hot on the heels of John Lennon’s charity TV advertisements for lap tops, Hard Rock International is proud to announce the launch of its 2008 global “Imagine There’s No Hunger” campaign to benefit WHY, a nonprofit organization that strives to fight against hunger and poverty in America and around the world.

Setting the foundation for the “Imagine There’s No Hunger” campaign, artist and musician Yoko Ono has graciously donated her late husband John Lennon’s inspirational song “Give Peace A Chance” to the SERVE3 compilation. The CD will also include rare, new or previously unreleased tracks from some of music’s most influential artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Joss Stone, Avril Lavigne, Starsailor, My Morning Jacket and more. SERVE3 will be available at Hard Rock locations around the world and on www.hardrock.com, with digital downloads available at iTunes.com.

“I am glad that WHY is using John’s lyrics to communicate the seriousness of this issue to the world,” said Yoko Ono. “Let’s all work together to make a world without hunger as soon as humanly possible. We owe this battle to our children. WAR IS OVER if you want it. In brotherhood and sisterhood.”

Springsteen Serves Again For World Hunger Year

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Bruce Springsteen has once again donated a song to the World Hunger Year organization for a new benefit CD.

Serve3 is the third installment of the album that features rare and unreleased tracks released by Hard Rock International to help fight world hunger and poverty. The CD features performances by some of rock’s biggest selling artists, as well as Grammy winners and critically acclaimed musicians.

Joining Springsteen in donating songs for Serve3 is Joss Stone, Avril Lavigne, DMC, and The Chapin Sisters – the three nieces of the late folk singer Harry Chapin, who formed World Hunger Year in 1975 because he “saw hunger and poverty as an insult to America”. Chapin – who died in 1981 – donated all of the proceeds from his concert merchandise to World Hunger Year, and gave almost all of his personal fortune away to the 81 charities he was known to support.

Springsteen Shows His Heart

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:13:18 +0000

Bruce Springsteen recently showed a young special needs boy at one of his concerts exactly why he is still one of the biggest and best acts in rock.

Charity Buzz, an online auction site, is currently selling tickets to a number of Springsteen’s shows in a giant, ongoing auction to raise funds for Musicians on Call and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund, and the 58-year-old superstar took time out from one of his concerts to meet a winning bidder last week. The rocker left the stage during his show at the Toyota Center in Houston, Dallas, on April 14 to talk with the boy, who was confined to a wheelchair. The boy’s mother, who cried tears of happiness over the singer’s generous act, said he shared a conversation with her son and had his photo taken with the young fan.

The concert took place just a few days before the death of Spingsteen’s longtime keyboardist, Danny Federici, who passed away from melanoma on April 17 at the age of 58.

Bruce Springsteen Brings His Human Touch To Charity Auction

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:59:54 +0000

The Boss is back, and he is doing his part to help the hungry.

Bruce Springsteen has donated four tickets to his concert on April 30 in Charlottesville to an auction to benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, an organization that serves over 129,000 needy people every year in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia.

The food bank is also holding a virtual food drive before and after Springsteen’s appearance at Charlottesville’s John Paul Jones Arena, and donations can be made at www.brafb.org between April 14 and May 3.

Bono's Fishy T-Shirt Benefits African Farmers

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:41:00 +0000

Bono has designed a new T-shirt for charity, joining a host of other celebrities in an on-going and major charity campaign.

The 47-year-old singer from U2 is the 25th artist to design a shirt for Hard Rock Café’s Signature Series clothing line, an initiative started in 1990 as a way for musicians to raise money for charities of their choice. Sales from the shirts have raised over $6 million for a variety of causes.

Bono’s creation, available for $26 from the Hard Rock website, features his stylized drawing of a fish soaring past the moon, and is adorned with the words “Fish Can Fly”, as well as his signature. 15% of the proceeds will go to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Conservation Cotton initiative – a scheme designed to lift African farmers out of poverty by providing education on proper land management, organic cotton growing techniques, and wildlife conservation. The shirts will also support the trade for aid ethos of EDUN, the conscious consumerism fashion label founded by Bono and his wife in 2005, by being made from 100% African cotton and manufactured by African garment workers.

Musicians Offer A Second Serve For Charity

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:49:53 +0000

An eclectic gathering of veteran rockers and new artists are featured on a new CD released this month to help fight world hunger and poverty.

Serve2 is a collection of rare and previously unreleased tracks released by Hard Rock International to benefit World Hunger Year (WHY), a leading organization in the fight against hunger and poverty.

The CD, which follows a similar release earlier in 2007, features live, studio, acoustic, and electric performances by some of rock’s biggest selling artists, as well as Grammy winners and critically acclaimed musicians. Hard Rock is well known for its commitment to music, but philanthropy is the company’s soul, and this is witnessed in their involvement in projects such as this.

Kravitz and Good Charlotte "Serve" Those in Need

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 19:49:14 +0000

Major recording artists such as Lenny Kravitz and Good Charlotte have come together to help create an all-star charity CD benefitting World Hunger Year (WHY).

Called “Serve”, the collection of tracks by Grammy Award-winning and acclaimed artists includes a booklet with text and photos celebrating philanthropy in rock ‘n’ roll. The 12 songs are variously new and classic, electric and acoustic, and two are live recordings. Many of the tracks are rare or previously unreleased pieces.

The CD is available at Hard Rock Cafe’s Rock Shops and the Hard Rock Cafe website. The tracklist is as follows: