Look To The Stars News: charity:water

LTTS Exclusive: An Interview With Yaya DaCosta

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:20:00 -0000

America’s Next Top Model runner-up Yaya DaCosta recently told Look To The Stars about the causes important to her, showing both her eloquence and deep understanding of what one person can do to make a difference.

LTTS: Which charities do you support, and why?

Yaya: I have been a member of Greenpeace (which is more of an environmental activist group than a charity) all of my life, and I worked with them during my high school summer vacations. In the past few years, the two charities I have most consistently supported are charity:water and Women for Women International.

Have you seen improvement since you started volunteering?

These organizations were founded and seeing results from their work long before I joined or – in Greenpeace’s case – before I was born! The success of these organizations and their hands-on approaches are in large part why I felt safe getting involved. Every month, people who dedicate their lives to improving the lives of others and the health of the planet are making improvements and advances, but the problems are also growing.

As a child growing up in New York City, occasionally giving part of my lunch to homeless people on the trains, I learned that giving alone doesn’t always fix the problem. I would see the same people begging day after day.

Greenpeace makes advances, but is faced with new challenges every day, especially now with the exponentially increasing threat of global climate change and natural disasters. With every well

charity:water builds and the more they travel, the more aware they become of the many other surrounding villages in need of their help.

It would be virtually impossible for Women for Women International to find and enroll every female victim of war into their recovery program, but with every success story, there is progress and growth in the community of people who care. I think improvement can be defined as a growing awareness of the problems of the world and a sense of responsibility among the “have’s”, as well as a spreading of wealth of knowledge and sense of hope and among the “have not’s”.

Were you raised to think about others, or was there an event in your life that spurred it?

I was raised in a poor (by U.S.A. standards) family in a rough neighborhood in New York City, but I didn’t know I wasn’t well off for a long time, because my parents gave us top-notch educations and taught us that our privilege was defined not by money, but by the love in our lives and by the simple things we enjoyed that poor people in very poor countries couldn’t (food, shelter, childhood etc.).

The act of giving attempts to balance out, even a little bit, the very uneven and unfair structures in which we live.

I saw the homeless people in New York as New Yorkers who had experienced unfortunate circumstances, not as people who weren’t worthy of having a home. I was also reminded by my parents that we – human beings – are all one, and if tragedy could happen to a stranger, it could happen to me too. Children born in poor regions of the world where they have no access to clean water did not ask to be born there. Women in war-torn regions being raped, abused and displaced did not wish these circumstances upon themselves. Being born in a place of relative privilege makes me lucky and gives me the position – obligation, even – to help others in whatever way I can.

What do you get out of it (lessons, morals, etc.)?

I am very sensitive and always conscious of the world’s injustices, so when I am able to help others in the little ways I can, I feel a little less helpless and feel closer to the other people around the world doing their little parts. Hopefully our “little parts” add up and contribute significantly to the work of the our crusaders who dedicate their entire lives to making change.

Why would you recommend others get involved?

There can never be too many people involved in making positive change. Recommending that people get involved, however, can be tricky because people don’t like to be made to feel guilty. In the Western world, especially, we tend to defend our right to have what we have because we – or our ancestors, or our ancestors’ slaves – worked hard for it. It can be difficult to get past that sense of detachment from our responsibilities as citizens of the world, but if someone is already interested and open, I love sharing ideas with comrades in struggle and urging new friends to get involved in whatever little ways they can.

For people who really don’t have a lot of money to give, where do you suggest they start in helping out?

Where there are small, locally based organizations in their areas, they could volunteer time and labor. Even if people don’t have a lot of money, we can still give a little. If you find a good organization you can trust to put the money exactly where they claim it’s going, then every little bit counts, even loose change. Sometimes when we’re tempted to buy something we don’t really need (a sweet treat, a new pair of earrings, or some other cheap knick-knack), we can stop and decide to put those few dollars aside in a ‘charity box’ and give it to someone in need instead. Also, if we can’t give to people living now, we can always give to our unborn family members and all future generations by making changes in our daily habits to reduce our carbon footprints and help keep the planet human-friendly for a lot longer than scientists are predicting today (ie. recycling, using low energy light bulbs, using dishwashers and clothes washing machines only when full, riding bikes instead of driving, planting a tree etc.). There are so many little things we can do that really do go a long way!

What would you do to fix the issues?

I don’t know about fixing the issues, but I intend to always do my part to help minimize them and, hopefully, as my resources grow, so will my “part”!

Do you feel young females in Hollywood should take action and set an example?

If young women in Hollywood, along with young men in Hollywood, old men on Wall Street, everyone in WalMart, and everyone who can, for that matter, did their little parts and set examples for their family members, I think a more worldly consciousness of interconnectedness and responsibility would spread and we’d all benefit from it.

Will any of your up-and-coming work reflect your feelings on world issues?

Well, I’m always working on my own little projects, in which my feelings on world issues are embedded, by default, but as an actor, anything you see in the near future will simply reflect the job I got hired to do. Every once in a while, though, a movie, a play, or a television show is produced that is entertaining enough to reach a wide audience and brave enough to raise important questions about the state of our governments or our human collective consciousness. If I’m hired to work on one of those projects, I’d be so lucky!

Hugh Jackman Splits $100,000 Between Two Charities

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Regina Walton

Hugh Jackman followed through on his April 14th promise to donate $100,000 to charity based on the best 140 character or less message explaining why their chosen charity should get the cash.

Jackman sent out a tweet announcing the recipients, “Thank you for all of your passionate responses. I have chosen [”charity:water":http://www.looktothestars.org/charity/611-charity-water] and Operation of Hope. Keep your generous spirit flowing!" He also announced the recipients live on Ryan Seacrest’s morning radio show.

On Seacrest’s show, Jackman said he got so many great tweets about great causes that he was unable to choose just one. The two that recieve the final donation are the two that “really got him.”

Charity:Water is a New York City based non-profit which focuses on bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Charity:Water was founded in 2006 and since then it has helped fund 1,247 projects in 14 countries and has brought 669,045 people clean and safe drinking water. For more information, visit charitywater.org.

Operation of Hope is a non-profit medical foundation started in 1989. Its mission is to donate surgeries to children who have facial deformities. The charity has an all-volunteer medical team. Operation of Hope performs facial surgeries on poor children around the world. All the operations are performed free of charge and all of their surgeons are Board Certified. For more information, visit operationofhope.org.

During the interview Hugh expressed his amazement with the communication potential that Twitter has. “It’s just amazing to me that Twitter has now become a way for people to start talking about things that are really important to them and making a difference.”

We’re glad that Hugh recognized this potential. He not only helped two charities with donations but also helped many good causes spread the word about their efforts.

Listen to the show, courtesy RyanSeacrest.com.

Adrian Grenier Hosts Charity:Water Ball

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Adrian Grenier hosted the annual Charity:Water Ball in New York last night to raise money for the organization’s work bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

The evening featured an auction that included lots such as a private acting lesson with Dustin Hoffman and the opportunity to pay for wells being built in Africa. Over $500,000 was raised at the event – held at the Metropolitan Pavilion – with guests such as Matthew Modine, Jessica Stam, Jennay Elfman, Gnarls Barkley, and many more.

Charity:Water was established by Scott Harrison, a Manhattan party promoter, in 2006. While on a freelance photography trip in Africa, Harrison was shocked to see victims of contaminated water suffering long and painful deaths.

“I had been selling $350 bottles of Grey Goose vodka at clubs, and here were 5,000 people, some who had come from neighboring countries to see a doctor,” Harrison told Bloomberg. “I was devastated.”

Over 1,500 people attended the event, with proceeds going to build wells in developing nations. Since its founding, the charity has helped fund more than 1,000 projects.

“I used to live a very selfish and very arrogant lifestyle,” Harrison said. “This has been a humbling experience.”

More information about Charity:Water can be found at their website.

Alison Sweeney Wants Hydration For All

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:30:00 -0000

As host of NBC’s The Biggest Loser, Alison Sweeney knows the important role hydration plays in a healthy lifestyle – so it was no surprise that the Days of our Lives star joined Thermos to celebrate the launch of Thermos’ www.hydrationforall.com website on September 9.

The event – held at the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas – featured the chance to meet Sweeney and listen to her talk about the ways she keeps her own family hydrated and healthy.

The new website aims to educate families on the importance of staying properly hydrated, start a community to exchange tips on healthier, more active lives, and talk about hydration issues around the world. The site has also partnered with charity:water to help bring clean water to people in need.

For more information, visit www.hydrationforall.com.

Fans of Allison Sweeney shouldn’t forget about the Celebrity Jeans auction currently running at www.clothesoffourback.org. Proceeds from the auction, which runs until September 17, will go to America’s Second Harvest, The Art of Elysium, Hope North, and H.E.L.P. Malawi.

Jennifer Connelly Makes Her Children Drink Bad Water... For Charity Ad

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:50:35 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Actress Jennifer Connelly has appeared in a new commercial on US television, highlighting the need to provide clean drinking water to millions of people around the world.

The star of films such as Blood Diamond and Dark Water joined Terry George – director of Hotel Rwanda – to make the Public Service Announcement for Charity:Water, an organization that aims to bring clean and safe water into impoverished communities.

“We wanted to bring the harsh reality we saw in Africa home to our friends,” said advert creator Nigel Lythgoe. “The reality that millions of women and children walk miles each day to collect murky green water from swamps. Water that kills kids. We wanted to put an end to it.”

In the PSA, which had its first airing during last week’s Idol Gives Back TV special, Connelly is shown collecting water from stagnant ponds in Central Park and giving it to her children to drink.

The charity hopes the commercial will encourage people to donate to their well drilling projects in Africa, India, and Central America. To find out more, watch the advert and visit the Charity:Water website.

Look To The Stars News: charity:water

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