Look To The Stars News: ONE Campaign

Scout Willis In Action

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:16:25 -0000

Scout Willis, 16-year-old daughter of actors Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, is spending her spring break building houses for the needy in Guatemala.

No stranger to charitable causes, Scout has been involved in fund raising activities for Habitat For Humanity, Save the Children and ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. She is also an advocate and active participant in her dad’s Bruce Willis Foundation, an organization aimed at helping kids to express themselves creatively to reach their full potential.

At one fundraising event, Bruce said, “My daughters and I have been moved by the recent tragedies that have impacted our nation, and they have shown us that now is a time to react and support those in need. … the Bruce Willis Foundation will reach into the community and educate young people on how they too can make a difference.”

Part of that is raising awareness of charities dedicated to improving the lives of those in need. For Scout, another part of that is heading to Guatemala to build communities.

Bono Awarded For AIDS Work

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:32:08 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bono has received an award at an AIDS charity event in New York.

The U2 frontman was honored for his humanitarian work at The Black Ball, a ceremony held at the Hammerstein Ballroom on October 25 to raise money for the Keep A Child Alive foundation, a non-profit organization that provides treatment to AIDS victims in Africa.

The sparkling evening of cocktails, dinner, and rare musical performances was organized and co-hosted by Alicia Keys, a Global Ambassador for the foundation, who described Bono as “an amazing man [who] works tirelessly at really having a cause and fighting for it. He is an inspiration and single-handedly made it cool to have something to speak about.”

“Rock stars always want to do two things,” said Bono, who was honored to accept the award but insisted he would rather be giving out the accolades. “They want to have fun and change the world. If you can do both at the same time, you’re OK.”

The event, which featured performances by Gwen Stefani and Sheryl Crow, as well as by Bono and Keys, attracted a host of celebrities who are both known for their support of the foundation and who wanted to show their respect for Bono’s work. David Bowie, Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Petra Nemcova, and members of Green Day were all spotted during the evening.

“This is an awesome opportunity to step up out of compassion and try to do the smallest of things,” said Crow, a few minutes before performing a duet with Keys. “Just to play some music and raise some money. I’m really proud of Alicia for doing it, and obviously I’m a huge fan of Bono and all the work he’s done.”

“I love Bono,” added Keys, who teamed up with the Irish singer in 2005 to record a version of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” for Keep A Child Alive. “I really respect what he has done for Africa, and how he has used his fame to do good in the world. I hope I can do half as much in my life. Keep A Child Alive is my passion and heartfelt mission. I believe AIDS is the most important issue we face, because how we treat the poor is a reflection of who we are as people. I urge everyone to recognize the extreme disaster Africa is facing.”

Africa currently has 12 million AIDS orphans, and less than 5% of the population has access to life-saving anti-retroviral treatment. It is estimated that there are 40 million people infected with the disease, 3 million of them children, with 700,000 more children becoming infected every year. Through its fundraising, Keep A Child Alive has funded several AIDS clinics in Africa, saving lives in Kenya, Durban, Johannesburg, Kigali, Rwanda, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Uganda. They also provide funds for the Agape Orphanage and the Go Go Grannies in South Africa. Keep A Child Alive is a partner of the ONE Campaign, which aims to help Americans to work against the worldwide emergency of AIDS and extreme poverty.

“I am a Global Ambassador for Keep A Child Alive,” said Iman, who co-hosted the Black Ball with Keys. “So it is something I have been doing for quite a while. I am from Africa, and there are a lot of orphan children in Africa whose parents have died from AIDS, and also there are a lot of kids infected with HIV. So we want to provide the drugs that are available in the West, and to make them affordable for poor countries as well, especially the continent of Africa.”

More information on Keep A Child Alive, whose Global Ambassadors also include Liv Tyler and Jessica Alba, can be found at www.keepachildalive.org.

Bono To Receive Liberty Medal Honours In US

Sat, 26 May 2007 12:48:01 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

The US National Constitution Center is to honour Bono for his charity work in Africa by awarding him the Liberty Medal in September.

Award winners are those who have “demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty”, and six past Liberty Medal winners have also received the Nobel Peace Prize.

The award carries a 100,000 dollar prize, which will go to Debt AIDS Trade Africa (DATA), the charity founded by Bono in 2002.

National Constitution Centre President Joseph M Torsella announced the award, saying, “Working hand-in-hand with DATA, Bono has become the ultimate civic entrepreneur – but on a global scale that the Founders could have only imagined.

“Bono and DATA don’t just raise awareness, important though that is. They challenge the world’s richest nations to do better by Africa, and challenge African nations to do better by their own people.”

Bono said: “This is a real honour for myself and my bosses at DATA – I am very proud of their work.”

He later commented that each of the 2.4 million American participants in the ONE Campaign should receive a medal too.

“I don’t suppose there are enough Liberty Medals to go around, but in truth, those people should all be wearing one, too,” he told the BBC.

Bono Pleased With Stars' Charity

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:50:45 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Bono feels that he has helped inspire other celebrities to join the ONE Campaign to end poverty and fight AIDS.

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and George Clooney have all joined the campaign, which Bono hopes will help raise American awareness of the cause.

He says, “By 2007, the year of the next American election, I am assured that there will be five million Americans (One Campaign members), which makes us bigger than the National Rifle Association.”

Look To The Stars News: ONE Campaign

Scout Willis In Action

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