Look To The Stars News: Lance Armstrong Foundation

Lance Armstrong Stands Up To Cancer Tonight

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Don’t miss Stand Up To Cancer on ABC, CBS and NBC today, Friday, September 5, at 8 p.m. (EST).

A spectacular line up of talent including Jennifer Aniston, James Taylor, Scarlett Johansson, Meryl Streep, David Cook, Christina Applegate, Lance Armstrong, Jack Black, Kirsten Dunst, Charles Barkley, America Ferrera, Halle Berry, Hilary Swank, Forest Whitaker, Jimmy Fallon and Keanu Reeves will appear on the one-hour telecast. The celebrities are set to educate you, move you and entertain you, and will even be on hand to answer your calls in the celebrity phone bank.

The premiere TV performance of Just Stand Up – the star studded charitable single in support of Stand Up To Cancer – will be performed by legendary recording artists Mariah Carey, Beyoncé Knowles, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Ray Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, Leona Lewis, LeAnn Rimes, and Carrie Underwood.

Doug Ulman, President of the Lance Armstrong Foundation says, “Inspired to act by their own personal experiences with cancer, the Stand Up to Cancer team recognizes that we can no longer rely on the current system alone to give us the breakthroughs we need. They are calling on the public to help take matters into our own hands, investing in a revolution that will change the way scientists and clinicians work to understand and treat cancer. Stand Up To Cancer is more than a rallying cry. It is a galvanizing force created to urgently move cancer research forward.”

Tonight’s program is raising funds to build “Dream Teams” made up of scientists, clinicians, technicians and other experts.

For more information about Stand Up To Cancer, and a complete list of celebrities who will be appearing during the show, visit the Stand Up To Cancer Website.

NBA Star Charles Barkley Donates to Fire Victims

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:05:02 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

Last July, former NBA player Charles Barkley took a time out from the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament to check out the damage caused by a fire that swept through South Lake Tahoe. After seeing the fire’s devastation, Barkley donated $25,000 and also promised to send a generous donation to support the fire victims. And this week, as promised, the 11-Time NBA ALL Star sent the Community Disaster Resource Center (CDRC) for Angora fire victims a check for $100,000.

“This additional aid is coming at a time when the plight of the survivors has passed from many minds, and the need is greater than ever,” said CDRC Board Chairman Dick Schwarte. “There are so many families in the throes of trying to rebuild their lives so that they can stay here in South Lake, and these additional funds will enable us to assist those individuals in response to their requests.”

The Angora Fire was a wind-driven fire that started near a North Upper Truckee Road subdivision near Angora Lakes, Fallen Leaf Lake, and South Lake Tahoe in California around 2:15 PM on Sunday, June 24, 2007. The devastating fire destroyed 254 homes, displaced 3,500 residents, and caused more than $160 million in damages.

“This is unbelievable,” Barkley said after touring the area with an NBC Sports film crew. “I really want to let people know that this is really unfortunate. It’s going to take years for everybody to rebuild their houses here. If we stay over there at the golf and casino, we’re not going to think anything is going on here. That’s why I wanted to come here with a camera. When you live in different parts of the country and they show you two houses burned down, you don’t get the full effect. We need to do something like this every year we come here … to show the progress.”

In February, Barkley toured the hurricane-ravished areas in New Orleans. “That hurricane could have hit last week, that’s how bad it was. Houses were all watered out and streets were nothing but mud everywhere, and that was two years later,” said Barkley, who donated a whopping $1 million to help New Orleans residents recover.

Angora fire victims still needing assistance should contact Carrie Reiter at the CDRC to complete an application. For additional information on registering for help or assisting, call (530) 542-4656. OR to make a donation to the fire victims, please visit Help Tahoe for more info.

And don’t forget Lake Tahoe’s annual celebrity golf event that will benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation and feature 78 entertainment and sports superstars. It takes place on July 8-13, 2008, at the Edgewood Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe. This year’s field includes Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Tony Romo, Dennis Miller, Ray Romano, Mario Lemieux, Dan Marino, LaDainian Tomlinson, John Elway, and Jerry Rice. First timers include NASCAR superstar Dale Jarrett, actor Aidan Quinn, skateboarding icon and babe magnet Ryan Sheckler, sports announcer Joe Buck, baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, and 11-time national sports writer-of-the-year Rick Reilly

More information can be found at www.tahoecelebritygolf.com.

Oprah Tops Celebrity Philanthropy A-List

Sat, 12 May 2007 08:24:15 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

A list of the 30 largest public donations made by celebrities in the past year puts Oprah in the top spot.

The Giving Back Fund, which encourages and advises on celebrity philanthropy, compiles its list each year. President Marc Pollick said, “Encouragement-by-example is the main reason for the Giving Back 30 list.”

Oprah gave $58.3 million to Oprah’s Angel Network and her recently-opened Leadership Academy.

Of the other celebrities high on the list, Barbra Streisand was in fourth spot, having given $11.75 million through her Streisand Foundation.

Tiger Woods took fifth place, giving $9.5 million to organisations including the Tiger Woods Learning Center funded by the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Giving Back’s Marc Pollick praised an increasing trend in celebrity donations, saying, “Ten years ago when Slate magazine first published the Slate 60 reporting on the most generous American philanthropists, the last donor on their list gave $5 million. This year the last donor donated $30 million to charity. This is the type of growth we are hoping to inspire within the sports and entertainment community. One cannot help but be influenced by the generosity of his or her peers.”

The full list and information about how it was compiled can be found at givingback.org. This site has previously reported on many of the list’s featured celebrities and their donations; a comprehensively linked version of the list appears below:

Position	Celebrity	Donation	Cause(s)
1	Oprah Winfrey	$58,300,000	Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, Oprah’s Angel Network, and other groups
2	Geoffrey Beene	$44,000,000 (bequest)	Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
3	Jack and Marie Lord	$40,000,000 (bequest)	Hawaii Community Foundation
4	Barbra Streisand	$11,750,000	Streisand Foundation, numerous civil liberties, environmental, and civil rights organizations “dedicated to democratic values”
5	Tiger Woods	$9,500,000	Tiger Woods Learning Center, Earl D. Woods Sr. Scholarship Fund, and other Tiger Woods Foundation programs
6	Rosie O’Donnell	$5,700,000	Katrina Relief efforts including Renaissance Village (a temporary shelter for Katrina victims), day care centers, a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, and a Habitat For Humanity sub division in Baton Rouge
7	Martha Stewart	$5,000,000	New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital for a center on healthy aging
8	Carmelo Anthony	$4,282,000	CAF Youth Center in Baltimore, AAU Basketball, Syracuse University Recreational Center, and other charities
9	Pat Boone & Shirley Boone	$3,000,000	Pepperdine University for the Graduate School of Education and Psychology Center for the Family
9	LeRoy Neiman	$3,000,000	The School of the Art Institute of Chicago to support a Master’s class in figure drawing
11	Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt	$2,415,000	School and Community Center in Swakopmund in Namibia, Daniel Pearl Foundation, Namibian hospitals, Doctors Without Borders, Global Action for Children and others
12	Nicolas Cage	$2,000,000	Amnesty International for a fund to help child soldiers
12	Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”) and Dany Garcia Johnson	$2,000,000	University of Miami to name new Alumni Center living room
12	Paul McCartney	$2,000,000	Adopt-A-Minefield
12	Arnold Palmer	$2,000,000	Pledged to the Arnold Palmer Foundation ultimately to benefit the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
16	David Geffen	$1,600,000	David Geffen Foundation
17	Susan Saint James and Dick Ebersol	$1,300,000	The Gunnery to help pay for a new dormitory in memory of their son Teddy killed in a plane crash
18	Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg	$1,250,000	Boston University to renovate facilities
19	Andre Agassi	$1,070,000	Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation
20	Tiki and Ronde Barber and family	$1,000,000	University of Virginia to support the McIntire School of Commerce, the Virginia Athletics Foundation, Childrens Hospital, a scholarship fund for African-American students, the Young Alumni Council, and to challenge young alumni to participate in the capital campaign
20	Bob Barker	$1,000,000	Georgetown University to endow a fund at its law school that will focus on the study of animal rights
20	Gloria Estefan	$1,000,000	Miami Paralysis Project
20	Dr. Phil McGraw & Robin McGraw	$1,000,000	Dr. Phil Foundation
20	George Steinbrenner & family	$1,000,000	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for Boshamer Stadium for baseball
20	Tony Stewart	$1,000,000	Victory Junction Gang Camp
20	Denzel Washington	$1,000,000	Save Africa’s Children
27	Mike Sexton	$560,000	Special Olympics, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, Children, Inc., Wounded Warrior Project, Ohio State University, and other charities
28	Lance Armstrong	$500,000	Lance Armstrong Foundation
28	Dolly Parton	$500,000	Fort Sanders Medical Center
28	Elizabeth Taylor	$500,000	New Orleans AIDS Task Force to purchase mobile medical unit for AIDS sufferers in New Orleans

Join Lance Armstrong's Army To Fight Breast Cancer

Sat, 05 May 2007 13:44:24 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Lance Armstrong is asking the public to join his foundation’s fight against cancer by signing a petition calling for changes to the US government’s health priorities.

President Bush recently signed a bill to reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program, an initiative that provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings to uninsured and low-income women.

However, current funding will only cover treatment for one in five eligible women. Lance describes this situation as “not good enough”.

In a statement made on behalf of his foundation, Armstrong said, “We know, and the Institute of Medicine confirms, that low-income women are three times more likely to die from breast cancer. Why? This same group is less likely to get screened and more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage cancer. In other words, we could prevent these deaths. In fact, one-third of the 560,000 cancer deaths that occur in the United States each year could be prevented by applying what we already know about prevention, screening and early detection.”

To sign the petition, visit the Lance Armstrong Foundation website at livestrong.org.

Lance Armstrong Party Raises $1 Million

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:57:53 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Lance Armstrong hosted a fundraising party on Friday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his anti-cancer charity, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

A barbeque at the retired cyclist’s home in Austin, Texas drew guests including Armstrong’s ex-fiancée Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett and Matthew McConaughey, and a total of around $1 million was raised for the Foundation.

Armstrong joined Lovett on stage for two songs, and told the crowd, “I hated losing and I hated rivals. And I despise, detest and hate cancer. This foundation is going to continue to be ruthless and relentless in this fight against cancer.”

Look To The Stars News: Lance Armstrong Foundation

Lance Armstrong Stands Up To Cancer Tonight

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