Look To The Stars News: SixDegrees.org

Demi Moore's GEMS To Receive Pepsi Refresh Grant

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:57:00 -0000

Actress Demi Moore secures victory over actor, Kevin Bacon to win the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge and Demi’s selected cause, GEMS: Girls Educational & Mentoring Services will be awarded the top prize of $250,000.

GEMS is the nation’s largest non-profit organization designed to empower American girls and young women, ages 12-21 who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.

A long-time anti-trafficking advocate, Demi unleashed the power of her social media network to get out the vote for her cause to benefit GEMS. “The Pepsi Refresh Grant will allow GEMS to train 10 former victims as outreach workers and employ them to go back to their community and refresh the lives of thousands of victimized girls. I believe the work that GEMS is doing is nothing short of heroic!,” says Demi who along with her husband, Ashton Kutcher, launched the DNA Foundation committed to protecting the freedom of the world’s most vulnerable citizens by forcing sex slavery out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

“I am thrilled that GEMS has gained powerful allies in Demi Moore and The DNA Foundation and honored to be the beneficiary of a Pepsi Refresh Grant. The grant will support us in the important work of transforming survivors of domestic trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation into future leaders. This transformation is most evident with GEMS Outreach workers, young women who advocate for legislation to protect other young victims, challenge misperceptions of survivors and educate and support peers and at-risk girls,” says Rachel Lloyd, GEMS founder/Executive Director.

“I am excited that GEMS won the Pepsi Refresh grant. As a GEMS Outreach worker, I travel to juvenile detention facilities, group homes, and schools, to educate girls on the issues of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. This is very important to me because often girls have no idea what really goes on and if I can reach them before an exploiter ever does they will know the truth of what that life really offers. I let them know that if they have been a victim of trafficking, GEMS is a place where they can get help and wont be judged,” says Shaquana also a survivor who with the support of GEMS, graduated as high school valedictorian and is now a college sophomore.

Pepsi will also award $100,000 to support Kevin’s cause, SixDegrees.org, which will distribute thousands of $20 SixDegree.org Good Card, a gift card which they can use to support a charity of their choice. Demi and Kevin’s ideas are two of hundreds that have been submitted from around the country for a chance to win some of than $20 million available from the Pepsi Refresh Project.

For more info on GEMS visit www.gems-girls.org

For more info on Pepsi Refresh go to www.refresheverything.com.

For more info on Demi and Ashton Foundation visit www.demiandashton.org.

Stars Want To Refresh Everything With Pepsi For Charity

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:00:00 -0000

Starting today, America can cast their votes at www.refresheverything.com for the refreshing consumer-generated ideas that they believe will make a positive impact on their communities. This is the first of eleven opportunities for the public to win grants from $5,000 up to $250,000 throughout the year.

The first voting session ends on February 28 and the ideas that receive the top votes will be announced on Monday, March 1, 2010.

The Pepsi Refresh Project, a groundbreaking effort to foster innovation in social good, will award more than $20 million this year to fund great ideas that refresh the world. The program launched on January 13 and has already exceeded expectations by receiving the monthly limit of 1,000 submissions in less than seven days with at least one from each state in the U.S. Joining this effort are actors Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon, who have generated their own ideas for Pepsi Refresh and are competing for support in the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge, which also launches today.

“The Pepsi Refresh Project puts the financial resources in the hands of those who are passionate about creating a better world. I am very pleased to be a part of this creative initiative to refresh our world,” said Demi Moore. Moore will campaign for her own Pepsi Refresh Idea as part of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge in support of GEMS – Girls Educational & Mentoring Services. The grant would provide support to outreach workers who help women who have experienced sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking integrate back into society as healthy, safe, productive individuals.

Recent Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award winner, Kevin Bacon, will campaign for his idea: to give thousands of people a SixDegrees.org $20 Good Card — a gift card for charity — which they can use to support their favorite cause. “I applaud Pepsi for its commitment to fostering social good and its tremendous work in encouraging people to submit their ideas on how to improve our nation. I am optimistic that great changes will be made throughout 2010 as a result of this,” said Bacon.

Visit the Pepsi Refresh Project Facebook page, to cast your vote by February 28 in the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge for Moore or Bacon’s idea. Pepsi will grant $250,000 to fund the idea that wins the most votes.

The Pepsi Refresh Facebook page will also feature an exclusive opportunity to watch the Pepsi Refresh Everything through Great Ideas Brainstorm live from New York City. The Brainstorm will bring together Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Jill Beraud, CMO and president of joint ventures for PepsiCo Americas Beverages; advisory board member, Majora Carter; as well as college students from the New York City area to discuss ideas that they believe will positively move the world forward. From 12:00 p.m. EST to 1:00 p.m. EST, viewers can submit questions in real time via Facebook and Twitter (@Pepsi), and engage with the hosts and audience. Content from the brainstorm will be available on Ustream, Facebook and a new iPhone application.

“The overwhelmingly positive response we have received since launching our campaign has been incredible and we are confident that this program will only continue to flourish in 2010,” said Beraud. “This is the people’s project, it’s in their hands. We encourage all individuals to submit their creative and innovative ideas to the Pepsi Refresh Project and cast their votes for the ideas that they want to see come to life.”

The Pepsi Refresh Project can be found at www.refresheverything.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/refresheverything or on Twitter, @Pepsi or #pepsirefresh.

Kevin Bacon To Be Honored For Networking With A Conscience

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:00:00 -0000

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced that renowned actor and philanthropist Kevin Bacon will be presented with the third annual Joel Siegel Award by Meryl Streep at the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

The ceremony, hosted by Kristin Chenoweth, will air live on VH1 Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:00 PM ET/PT.

Given annually, this special award for philanthropy pays homage to beloved “Good Morning America” film critic and BFCA member Joel Siegel, who lost his long struggle with cancer in June, 2007.

Kevin Bacon is one of the foremost actors of his generation and has starred in over 50 films. His talent for balancing starring roles with powerful supporting characters on both film and stage has allowed him to build a varied and critically acclaimed body of work. Kevin has proven his talents in a wide range of film genres from action thrillers to romantic comedies to heavy dramas, and even the occasional musical. Kevin most recently starred in “Taking Chance” for which he received Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations.

Kevin Bacons’ Six Degrees foundation is about social networking with a social conscience. Through the SixDegrees.org web site you can support your favorite charities by donating or creating fundraising badges — as well as check out the favorite causes of other people, including celebrities. SixDegrees.org was started with the nonprofit Network for Good in January 2007.

“Kevin has always held a special place in the hearts of our membership since he won the very first Best Actor Award we ever gave out for ‘Murder in the First’,” notes BFCA President Joey Berlin. “The Joel Siegel Award was created to celebrate its namesake’s way of life in the spotlight. It honors a person who understands that the true value of celebrity is as an enhanced platform to do good works for others. Kevin personifies the values celebrated by this award.”

Since its inception in 1995, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards has been a star-studded bellwether event of the movie awards season. The BFCA consistently picks nominees and winners that go on to garner more Academy Award® nominations and wins than any other movie awards shows. Of the 20 actors and actresses nominated for Oscars in 2009, 19 were first Critics’ Choice Awards nominees.

The 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, honoring the finest in cinematic achievement among 2009 film releases, announced its nominees on Monday, December 14, 2009. Final ballots will go out to the BFCA members on January 11, 2010 with the deadline for returning final ballots happening on January 13, 2010. For a full list of this year’s nominees and information about the show visit CriticsChoice.VH1.com.

Ashley Judd Wants You To Make A Difference

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

October 25 is Make A Difference Day, and Ashley Judd is urging you to help others by volunteering for non-profit organizations.

The 40-year-old has been a Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS for the last six years, and has traveled through 13 countries – including Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo – to witness health empowerment programs and raise awareness of their work.

“Volunteer work has revolutionized my life,” she said. “It has, in the best possible, most dramatic and rewarding way, turned my life inside out and upside down.”

The star – who supports causes such as Jeans for Genes and SixDegrees.org – wants to encourage others to help, and says that the feeling of fulfillment is extremely satisfying.

“Volunteering in other countries is spiritually rewarding because it demonstrated to me in such a profound way that the things we think make us different are illusions,” said Judd. “I can’t imagine a better way to see the world than by doing service work.”

To find out more about how to volunteer for a charity on Make A Difference Day, visit www.makeadifferenceday.com.

Kevin Bacon Launches “SixDegrees.org”

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 10:02:12 -0000

Kevin Bacon has launched SixDegrees.org, a new web site that builds on the popularity of the “small world phenomenon” to create a charitable social network and inspire giving to charities online.

Bacon started the network with celebrities who are highlighting their favorite charities – including Kyra Sedgwick (Natural Resources Defense Council), Nicole Kidman (UNIFEM), Ashley Judd (YouthAIDS), Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek (Clothes Off Our Back), Dana Delany (Scleroderma Research Foundation), Robert Duvall (Pro Mujer), Rosie O'Donnell (Rosie's For All Kids Foundation), and Jessica Simpson (Operation Smile) – and he encouraged everyone to be celebrities for their own causes by joining the Six Degrees movement.

“SixDegrees.org is about using the idea that we are all connected to accomplish something good,” said Bacon. “It is my hope that Six Degrees will soon be something more than a game or a gimmick. It will also be a force for good, by bringing a social conscience to social networking.”

The game, ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,’ made the rounds of college campuses over the past decade and lived on to be a shorthand term for the small world phenomenon.

Bacon created SixDegrees.org in partnership with the nonprofit, Network for Good, AOL, and Entertainment Weekly. Through SixDegrees.org, which builds on Network for Good’s giving system for donating to more than one million charities online and AOL’s AIM Pages social networking service, people can learn about and support the charities of celebrities or fundraise for their own favorite causes with their own friends and families. Bacon will match the charitable dollars raised by the top six non-celebrity fundraisers with grants of up to $10,000 each.

“People give to charity because someone they know or respect asks them. So charities are increasingly looking to their supporters – not just themselves – to raise awareness and money online. That means both celebrities and everyday people can make an enormous difference for people in need,” said Bill Strathmann, CEO of Network for Good.

SixDegrees.org harnesses two important online trends: the exponential growth of social networks and the increasing interest in using the web for raising money for charity among family and friends. Through SixDegrees.org, people can upload their own photos and stories and fundraise for the charity of their choice with their own charity badges and AIM Pages.

To kick off the launch of SixDegrees.org, Bacon will attend opening weekend of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT, where he and other celebrities will be encouraging charitable giving. Entertainment Weekly is celebrating SixDegrees.org and Kevin Bacon at its third annual Sundance Festival Opening Weekend Party on January 20 at Jean Louis in Park City. At the party, guests will be able to learn more about SixDegrees.org and celebrities will be encouraged to donate their “swag” to benefit charity. Items will later be listed on eBay using eBay Giving Works.

There will also be a representative from SixDegrees.org in Entertainment Weekly’s Main Street photo studio throughout the week so that when celebrities come to be photographed for the magazine, they can learn more about the organization and find out how they can get involved. Bacon will also be feted at an AOL reception where he will tape an episode of Moviefone.com’s Unscripted with Bradley Whitford, a SixDegrees.org participant and star of “An American Crime” premiering at Sundance.

“AIM Pages and Six Degrees are the perfect pairing as the immense popularity of social networking and the importance of individual giving converge. We look forward to building an important network of good-deed-doers via AIM Pages to benefit the scores of charities associated with Six Degrees,” according to Marcien Jenckes, VP/GM, Instant Messaging & Social Media, AOL.

Look To The Stars News: SixDegrees.org

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