Look To The Stars News: Staying Alive Foundation

Look To The Stars Talks to Kim Stolz

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:00:00 -0000

In recognition of December 1st as World AIDS Day, LookToTheStars.org correspondent Regina Walton spoke to Kim Stolz about her work with the Staying Alive Foundation.

Kim Stolz is an alumna of Americas Next Top Model (ANTM), Season 5, and since then has made a name for herself as an mtvU VJ and MTV News correspondent.

Kim graciously took time out to talk with us about causes that are meaningful for her and her charity work.

In the approach to World AIDS Day, I started off with questions about MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation. Staying Alive is a global grant-making organization. Its goal is to encourage, energize, and empower young people who are involved in HIV/AIDS awareness, education and prevention campaigns. On December 1st, World AIDS Day, Staying Alive Foundation will release a single by Travis McCoy titled, One at a Time. The single is available on iTunes and the goal is to raise $100,000 for the foundation.

The event that kicked off this campaign is where I met Kim.

When asked how long she’s worked with the Staying Alive Foundation and what got her involved with that cause, she answered, "I’ve worked sort of with different charity organizations and non-profits that MTV is involved with [like] Think and Staying Alive… I got involved because Paul Dien, who is a fantastic guy at MTV, talked to me about six months ago about Staying Alive. … He actually thought of me when they were doing this event, and asked me to host it. Travis McCoy is a friend of mine, so it just fit really perfectly."

When asked why Staying Alive was important to her, and what distinguished it from other causes, she answered at length:

“What is so important to me about Staying Alive and about the Glaser Foundation (the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation), which is completely separate (from Staying Alive)…Nigel Barker, who I know from ANTM, has just done a fantastic project with the Glaser Foundation. … It’s basically pre-natal care as well as testing for the mother, testing for the children and post-natal treatment to ensure that babies are no longer passed HIV by their (infected) mothers because that is a really huge problem. Through their work they’ve actually been able to decrease it by 94%, which is an incredible, incredible number. I actually knew about that first, so when I heard about Staying Alive I was like ‘you know what? This relates. I’m interested in this.’

[It’s] not necessarily for the LGBT tie-in, because I hate when people tie in HIV/AIDS with gays. I think it’s a really unfortunate and bad stigmatic tie-in to make because it really has nothing to do with it but that used to be a huge problem. In the early 90s there was still that sort of stigmatic tie-in. I came out [at that time] and … not knowing much about it, it was something that I wanted to get involved in from a very young age. Through being involved I realized that it isn’t really gay people that are so much affected but it is people from other parts of the world. …

Working with kids with HIV is something that, I think, is one of the most important and also, most left out, things we need to be doing. I can’t believe how many kids are ignored and stigmatized because they have HIV. I don’t know why we’ve not paid more attention to this. But through Staying Alive and through Nigel Barker’s work with the Elizabeth Glaser, we’ve been able to really work a lot more with these children.

What I love about Staying Alive is that it is kids, teenagers and early-20-somethings are … getting grants and working in their communities to combat HIV and AIDS. I think there is something so wonderfully fitting about someone your age helping someone else of the same age. … There is something a lot more meaningful and a lot more driven about an 18 year old going help a bunch of teenagers in a small HIV-ridden community in sub-Saharan Africa.

That’s what I like about Staying Alive: the amount that it gets youth involved. I also think anything that gets youth involved is a good thing because there is a problem of apathy in this country. …"

Though Kim focusses much of her energy on getting more people involved in AIDS awareness, there are also many other ways she shows her support for good causes:

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – a gay rights organization.
Southhampton Youth Services – a charity that provides activities for kids when their parents aren’t around.
Event planning with various charities including GLAAD.
She gave a keynote speech in front of NY City hall on November 17, 2008 for a protest rally supporting the No On Proposition 8 campaign.
She’s worked with New York City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn as a legislative aid and on community service events.

The 26 year old also blogs for the Huffington Post, Fox Forum, and True Slant, and is a regular political commentator. On top of all of that she’s signed with Ford Models’ celebrity division.

In addition, Kim wants to attend law school and she’s currently gearing up to write a book on the impact of Web 2.0 on today’s society. She’s got a lot of drive and ambition!

To find out more about how you can support Kim’s work with the Staying Alive Foundation, visit staying-alive.org, and remember to download Travis McCoy’s track, One at a Time.

Look to the Stars would like to thank Kim for taking the time to talk with us, and we look forward to bringing you more news about her future charity work!

LTTS Exclusive - Travis McCoy And The MTV Staying Alive Foundation

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Regina Walton

On November 11, Broadway East in Lower Manhattan was crowded with the hip and stylish to kick off the MTV Staying Alive Foundation's push to their World AIDS Day campaign.

On World AIDS Day, Staying Alive will release a song made exclusively for the cause by Travis McCoy, front man for the popular indie/hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes and one of the foundation’s celebrity ambassadors. The name of the song is One at a Time, and you can get a preview of the song and learn more about the campaign here.

McCoy was at the event last week, as well as MTV VJ and Next Top Model’s Kim Stolz. British R&B singer songwriter Estelle also made an appearance.

The event highlighted McCoy’s travels – he recently visited grassroots HIV and AIDS prevention projects around the world – and was officially kicked off when Stolz spoke about her support of the foundation’s goals. Two grant recipients were also at the event: Tyler Spencer of the Grassroot Foundation/Athletes United for Social Justice and Natalia Cales of the Carolina Empowerment Group, Inc.

“MTV gave us our first big grant,” Tyler Spencer told Look To The Stars. “Before winning the SAF Award, we were funded almost completely by out of pocket expenses. The grant really put a solid ground under our feet.”

McCoy made the keynote speech at the event and, in a moment of spontaneity, he decided to speak from the heart rather than read prepared index cards. He talked about his travels across the globe where he visited grassroots, youth HIV and AIDS prevention projects, and discussed the challenge of writing a song to convey the enormity of his experiences.

In an exclusive interview with Look to the Stars’ Myrlia Purcell, Travis talked about his inspiration for working with the foundation. It all started when he was asked to ask celebrities questions about safe sex and HIV/AIDS awareness at the European Video Music Awards. He felt he should be doing more because “felt a strong connection with the foundation.” Travis lost someone close to him from AIDS when he was young but never told his friends because of the stigma. After the European VMAs, he approached MTV about how he could do more to help.

He talked about the things he noticed during his travels. “When I was in South Africa, I went to this township…, there was no running water and there were all these really, really horrible conditions but, you know, these kids were just so happy and just the biggest brightest smiles I’ve ever seen. These kids are playing soccer out of makeshift ball from plastic bags. And you know seeing that and thinking about back home, you know we just don’t realize how good we have it. We take it for granted the small things like having running water. We have kids that throw fits and cry when they don’t get the newest video game.”

He also talked about stepping up to the challenge of having to write a song. “Well, for one thing, there was a tremendous amount of pressure. All the proceeds from downloads go back to Staying Alive. Of course, I want to raise as much money as possible. So there is this part of me that wants this song to appeal to a lot of people and also to keep the cheesiness to a bare minimum. When you’re going into something like this and you’re making a song that you want to appeal to a lot of people, at the end of the day, it’s a pop song. … You want to make sure that the people who inspired the song are well represented and you get your point across. I’m very, very proud about how the song turned out.”

When asked what his fans could do to help, he responded decisively, “Download the song on December 1st when it comes out. Check out the Staying Alive website to see what you can do to help out. You don’t need to be an impressive figure (a celebrity) to do your part. As much time as our generation spends on the Internet you can take 5 to 10 minutes of your time to check it out to see what you can do.”

To learn more make sure to go to the Staying Alive and The Unbeaten Track websites to learn more.

Travis McCoy To Release Charity Song On World AIDS Day

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:30:00 -0000

MTV Networks International’s Staying Alive Foundation has announced the launch of Travis McCoy's charity track, One At A Time, which is set for release on December 1st to coincide with World AIDS Day.

McCoy, lead singer of alternative hip hop collective Gym Class Heroes and special ambassador to The Staying Alive Foundation, exclusively wrote the track for the Foundation which is MTV’s global HIV and AIDS awareness charity, funding and supporting youth-led grassroots HIV prevention projects around the world.

Available to download on iTunes from December 1, World AIDS Day, all proceeds from sales of the track will benefit the young people and projects supported by the Foundation.

The track was written after the 10-day journey McCoy took as Staying Alive Foundation Ambassador to South Africa, India and The Philippines, during which time he visited some of the inspirational projects funded and supported by the charity. His journey enabled him to meet with some of the young people who have dedicated their lives to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their own communities.

The track, which draws on McCoy’s experiences while on the trip, was recorded in Miami and produced and co-written by The Smeezingtons.

“This track comes straight from the heart,” said McCoy. “It encompasses everything that I saw and felt on the trip. I met some amazing and inspiring young people – and this track is dedicated to them and their tireless and selfless commitment to the fight against HIV and AIDS. I just hope that it’ll inspire others out there to get involved in whatever way they can. It really doesn’t take much to make a difference.”

Commented The Smeezingtons, “It was such an honour and humbling experience to work with Travis and MTV to create this song. We love making music, but when the music is used to help such a worthy cause it’s unbelievably fulfilling.”

“Travis’ commitment to The Staying Alive Foundation has enabled us to reach young people around the world in a truly innovative way,” said Georgia Arnold, Executive Producer of The Unbeaten Track and Senior Vice President, Social Responsibility, MTV Networks International/ Executive Director, Staying Alive Foundation.

“Through this track, Travis will be sharing his experience and amplifying the HIV awareness message to MTV audiences, globally, in a creative and memorable way. We are delighted with the track and can’t wait for the world to hear it.”

In addition to the One At A Time track, an accompanying music video will be aired on MTV from November 9, 2009 and will be available to watch online on MTV websites. The video features footage of Travis in the studio, as well as clips from ‘Travis McCoy’s Unbeaten Track’, the documentary that charts Travis’ tri-continental journey and is set to air on MTV channels on December 1, coinciding with the track release.

The philanthropic effort behind One At A Time is the result of a partnership between MTV Networks International, The Staying Alive Foundation, Atlantic Records and Fueled By Ramen.

One At A Time will be available on iTunes from December 1, 2009. From December 8, 2009, the track will also be available via other major online music retailers.

In addition to buying the track, donations can be made directly to The Staying Alive Foundation by visiting www.stayingalivefoundation.org.

Check out www.theunbeatentrack.com for more details on McCoy’s trip, including the inspiration behind the track and the Foundation-funded projects McCoy visited.

Travis McCoy Asks For AIDS Day Lyric Help

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy is currently traveling the world meeting young people affected by AIDS to raise awareness of the disease.

The singer plans to release a single about his experiences on World AIDS Day, December 1, and is asking fans via Twitter to submit possible lyrics and CD cover design ideas.

“[It’s] a cause that is very close to me,” he said. "Having lost loved ones and seeing the toll it takes on people affected, including the people that love and care for them, it’s important we do whatever we can within our power to fight this deadly and rapidly spreading epidemic.

“I strongly feel the best cure we have at this point is increasing education and building awareness. It’s how we use this information in the choices we make that will determine whether or not our generation will help make a change or ultimately make things worse. I believe that each one should teach one, and if my influence on my peers and young ones that look up to me can help decide what music to listen to or what clothes to wear, I hope and pray it will help them to decide to be safe and take their life seriously.”

Travis will visit South Africa, the Philippines and India as part of his role as MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation Ambassador.

Find out more by visiting his Blog.

Katy Perry And Friends Design T-Shirts For AIDS

Fri, 08 May 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Singer Katy Perry has joined with Cyndi Lauper, Yoko Ono and hip hop group N.E.R.D. to design T-shirts as part of H&M’s second Fashion Against AIDS collection.

H&M, a chain of 1,500 stores spread across 28 countries, has joined together with Designers Against AIDS to launch Fashion Against AIDS, a clothing collection for men and women, designed to draw attention to HIV/AIDS and increase awareness of the disease. Last year’s campaign featured Timbaland, Good Charlotte, Rihanna, and Ziggy Marley who created a special selection of T-shirts, tank tops, and hooded sweatshirts that use color and style to highlight the cause.

For the 2009 Fashion Against AIDS collection, the message is loud and clear with bold language and vibrant colors. Roisin Murphy’s t-shirt is bold with the phrase “Protection is power” on the front and back of a men’s t-shirt and a women’s bodysuit. N.E.R.D uses a clever graphic to shout “use your brain” on vibrant tank tops and t-shirts for both men and women. Estelle designed a tank top with the slogan “LIFE IS TOO SHORT – HAVE SEX BE SAFE” next to a sassy silhouette of an empowered woman. Katy Perry’s clever safe sex message, “WHAT’S ON THE OUTSIDE IS WHAT COUNTS,” appears on both a bodysuit and a cap-sleeved shirt. In a nostalgic nod to her roots, “GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE SAFE SEX” is scribbled in pink lipstick on Cyndi Lauper’s t-shirt. Others include Yoko Ono’s design of the words “IMAGINE PEACE” in multiple languages and Robyn’s feisty “PROTECT YOUR BODY.”

Dita von Teese, an avid supporter of AIDS causes, created an alluring image of her iconic red lips and arched brow on a cute cap-sleeved T: “It is really great that H&M continues to educate its customers and the world about HIV/AIDS with their campaign Fashion Against AIDS. We must never give up the fight against this horrible disease and we must constantly remind each other not to become apathetic or careless. The war on HIV/AIDS must continue.”

25% of the sales price will be donated to HIV/AIDS prevention projects of Designers against AIDS, UNFPA, MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation and YouthAIDS.

This year’s T-shirt designs will hit stores on May 28.

MTV Staying Alive Foundation's Newest Ambassadors

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

R&B singer Kelly Rowland became a Staying Alive Foundation ambassador in March. Highly motivated, she immediately turned her belief of ‘knowledge is power’ into a plan of action.

In June she went with MTV to South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya to meet some of SAF’s grant winners who are implementing HIV/AIDS awareness programs to “encourage, educate and empower their peers.”

“The [HIV/AIDS] statistics are high in young people,” says Rowland, “in African Americans or Africans period, so it’s important to get the message out there.”

The result of Rowland’s trip was not only her film, The Diary of Kelly Rowland – which documented her activities in Africa and aired on 1 December, World AIDS Day – but also an emotional rollercoaster that took her far beyond the comforts of home that she is accustomed to. Shocked by the putrid existence of AIDS sufferers in the squalor and hopelessness of a prostitution camp, affected by intelligent theatrical performance by actors with AIDS about the realities of AIDS, and inspired by the centre that takes girls off the streets and teaches them to read and write to make them employable, the visit to Africa was a real eye opener for the new ambassador.

“There’s so many young people out there and they have a life to live,” says Rowland. “We’re all a bit responsible for that.”

Singer Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, SAF’s latest ambassador, is also keen to spread the message.

“I’ve been that young naive boy, running around, not caring, wanting to have sex,” says McCoy. “I can definitely relate to the young guys out there now… I want to talk to them about respecting themselves, protecting themselves and the girls and women around them.”

Stars Support New MTV Video Competition

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:30:00 -0000

MTV and MySpace have launched an exciting new competition that puts YOU in the creative driving seat. And if you win, you could be making your directorial debut on MTV… and helping the Staying Alive Foundation in their aim to reach at-risk youth and protect them from the multiple threats posed by HIV and AIDS.

Untold Stories is looking for budding scriptwriters to finish off three videos posted on the competition website, and the person whose ending really packs a punch will be chosen as the winner. If you’re that lucky person, you’ll get to make the script into a short film – with the help of MTV producers! According to the Staying Alive Foundation, not only will your finished masterpiece be shown on MTV channels, but you’ll also be whisked off to watch your film played at a World AIDS Day event in India.

The competition is being supported by Selma Blair, Ludacris, T-Pain, Idris Elba, and Ashley Judd – all of whom appear in the videos on the competition’s MySpace page.

As well as the competition – which ends on September 2 – the Staying Alive Foundation is also auctioning a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the excitement of the MTV Video Music Awards on September 7, including celebrity meet & greets, red carpet access, after party tickets, and accommodation at The Standard in downtown LA. The auction ends on August 28, and can be accessed through the Charity Folks website.

The Staying Alive Foundation is a charity established by MTV in 2005 to present small grants that support innovative projects in schools, youth centers, and clubs to educate youth about safe sex and HIV/AIDS.

Kelly Rowland Tested For HIV To Raise Awareness

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

R&B singer Kelly Rowland has undergone an HIV test in Africa to raise awareness of the disease.

The 27-year-old Destiny’s Child singer took the test while in Nairobi on Thursday to help reduce the stigma of the disease in the country, where people fear discrimination if they are tested.

“Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to HIV infection, and it is important for everyone to know their HIV status,” she said. “The quicker you know your status, the sooner you can receive treatment if you’re HIV+, and reduce the risk of inadvertently infecting future partners.”

Rowland is in Africa as the first ever Ambassador for MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation, and hopes to help the people of Kenya get the disease under control. HIV/AIDS is at pandemic levels through much of Africa, with UNAIDS – the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS – estimating that more than 22 million adults and children are living with the disease on the continent.

The singer also took the time to visit the 2008 recipients of the Staying Alive Foundation’s grants, who have been chosen for their efforts to encourage, educate and empower their peers in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Each grantee receives a cash grant to enable them to realize a project associated with raising the awareness of the disease. The Kenyan recipients of the 2008 Staying Alive Foundation Awards are: The Kisumu Self Help Disabled Group; REPACTED (Rapid Effective Participatory Action in Community Theatre Education and Development); and The Positive Youth Initiative.

“All the 2008 Staying Alive grantees should be proud of the vital function they fulfill in their communities by helping to raise the awareness about HIV/AIDS,” said Rowland. “By stressing the importance of prevention, raising awareness about the basic issues surrounding HIV and AIDS and reducing stigma associated with infection, they are taking direct action to help stop the spread of the disease.”

Jamelia Launches Fragrance, Bares All For Charity

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:37:37 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Pop star Jamelia has recently been making it her business to lend support to charities.

In January she launched a perfume in support of MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation, which aims to raise awareness of AIDS and HIV. Proceeds from each bottle of “Rougeberry” sold will go directly to the Foundation.

Jamelia said: "A lot of people are thinking it’s not really their problem, it’s not going to happen to them.

“I feel that people really need to be more aware of the problem and realise that it can happen if you’re not safe and careful.”

This week she has become the latest celebrity to pose nude for an anti-fur campaign by animal rights PETA timed to coincide with London Fashion Week.

“The reason I decided to bare all for Peta was because I was educated about the inhumane ways animals used for their fur are treated, and I think it’s disgusting,” said Jamelia.

“I think if you have a heart, then you just wouldn’t wear fur.”

The charity’s provocative nude adverts have previously featured Sadie Frost, Pamela Anderson, Kim Basinger and Christy Turlington.

Look To The Stars News: Staying Alive Foundation

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