Julianne Hough -- KABOOM

Two-time “Dancing with the Stars” champion and Mercury Nashville recording artist Julianne Hough has partnered up with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit, to map and rate playspaces everywhere online. Once it has this comprehensive user-generated playground audit, KaBOOM! will know which areas of the country have a great place for kids to play every day and which areas fall short. Toward this end, Julianne will donate $1 to select charities every time someone uploads a new place to play (up to $100,000).

The challenge runs 100 days, from March 23 – June 30, or until Julianne gives away $100,000 to national non-profits that have teamed up with KaBOOM! for this project: YMCA of the USA, National Wildlife Federation, Shaping America’s Health, Jumpstart, America’s Promise Alliance and First Book. To participate, users go online to the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder (kaboom.org/playspacefinder) pick a great charity to earn money for, then post a picture they took of a place to play, and rate it.

Julianne will then give the non-profit they selected $1 each time they load a new playspace to the map. In addition to benefiting charity, every playspace loaded counts as an entry in a sweepstakes to meet Julianne or win autographed merchandise. By using online technology to activate and engage individuals, the 100,000 Playspaces in 100 Days Campaign will alert communities of the importance of play, and motivate individuals to start taking action.

“In the U.S. childhood obesity numbers have tripled since I was little. Statisics say that nearly a third of our nations kids are overweight or well on their way. I have joined with KaBOOM to try and make sure that kids have a place to play and run around every day,” said Julianne. When complete, the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder will serve as a national audit of playspaces, allowing communities to evaluate how many there are, their quality, and how accessible they are.

Growing up in Utah, Julianne had a very active childhood. She and her siblings were always outside playing together as well as dancing and singing. She wants to help other kids have some of the same opportunities as she did.

To do something about the situation, Julianne teamed up with KaBOOM! to help them complete an online map of playgrounds, the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder. “I want to help parents know where all the great places are to play in their neighborhood,” Julianne said. Once 100,000 new playspaces are entered onto the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder, KaBOOM! will have a national map full of places to play, parents can see where to take their kids, and KaBOOM! can spot areas that need attention.

The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder is a Google-based map that currently shows more than 16,000 user-generated entries with photos, amenities, and ratings of places kids play. The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder includes all different sorts of places to play: playgrounds, athletic fields, ice rinks, basketball courts, skateparks, and swimming pools, even nature trails and community gardens.

Since 1995, KaBOOM! has constructed almost 1,600 playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also created the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play.

Brady Quinn makes fan's dream come true!

I love these stories!

While doing work for The Granted Wish Foundation, Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn made a dream of a lifetime come true for a young fan recovering from heart transplant surgery. Alexandra Courville, 13, of Toledo, Ohio, was surprised when Quinn paid her a personal visit just four days after her surgery.

Quinn was a guest at the foundation’s annual fund-raiser last summer and has met with several disadvantaged children on behalf of the organization, which included his visit with Courville. After being born with a hole in her heart and several open heart surgeries, Courville was placed on the heart transplant list at the Cleveland Clinic. She also received her biggest wish of all, to meet Quinn, who is her hero. Alexandra’s wish was to meet her hero Brady Quinn. After seeing Quinn on YouTube doing work for Granted Wish, she contacted the non-profit foundation. She was invited to a movie premiere he was attending for underprivileged and disabled children. Due to a sudden complication while waiting for a heart to become available, she was unable to attend the event.
When Quinn heard that the young fan was unable to attend, he asked Granted Wish to facilitate the visit at the Cleveland Clinic, which was held four days after her surgery.
“The Granted Wish Foundation helped my dream come true,” Alexandra said. “Those 20 minutes I spent on YouTube has changed my life now and forever. When Brady surprised me, it was just as big of a surprise as my new heart. This visit means a lot more than people think. Brady took time out of his life to come meet with me. Now I’m nothing like I was before. I would someday love to throw a football with him!”
Now Quinn wants to expand his love of helping others through his new role as the National Spokesman for The Granted Wish Foundation, a national, non-profit organization whose mission is “to provide wish fulfillment to disabled, disadvantaged and deserving individuals and families.”
“We’re very pleased and honored to have Brady Quinn work with our organization,” Executive Director Stefanie Coletti said. “We admire his personal character and his genuine willingness to give back. His affiliation will help us provide the life-changing power of granting wishes to more individuals and families who need our help.”
“I’ve been privileged to see the work of The Granted Wish Foundation through experiences like my visit with Alexandra,” Quinn said. “This foundation continues to make such a positive impact on many lives and I am eager to be a part of it. I look forward to my role as the National Spokesman and build a team of life changers to help as many people as we can.”

Look where Celebrity-do-Gooders has been mentioned!

www.wisegroup.com/blog

Sterling Beaumon -- Starting Early

I love when I have a chance to talk to a teen who is well-spoken and Sterling Beaumon is way beyond his 14 years. When you talk to this young actor, who has recently played young Ben Linus in Lost and has made appearances in Bones, House and ER, you’re impressed with his accomplishments both on and off the screen. Sterling not only enjoys acting, but he enjoys giving back and he knows that it starts at home. His mother has been his guiding force, teaching him about the importance of recycling and saving energy. After he was done riding his bike, Sterling and I had a chance to chat for a few minutes.

How do you feel about the recycling and saving energy your mom taught you to do?

If we don’t save our world now, we won’t have one later. Mom always had us take two-minute showers and turn off all the lights. We hang our clothes out to dry instead of putting them in the dryer.

Do you learn about saving the planet in school?

I attend a school through the Internet and that conserves paper. It’s just me and online. I skateboard, bike and walk everywhere within five miles.

What about on your sets during filming?

On Lost, we recycle everything that can be recycled. We use the backs of the scripts as paper and we use metal water bottles.

Do you feel pressured to do the right thing all the time?

I don’t feel pressure. It’s not something you have to do, it’s something you choose to do. I think it’s cool to save the environment and work for other charities. Some kids don’t have things that you have – good health, clothes, a lot of stuff. It’s good to help.

How can kids start to help?

Volunteer in your neighborhood – that’s how I got started – picking up trash, cleaning up around the house. Cleaning up the gutters. It all starts at home.

What else are you involved with?

My aunt works for a non-profit organization that helps blind and dyslexic kids with reading. It gives them special reading materials, and I’m helping to promote it.

Thanks Sterling -- keep an eye on this kid.

What's been going on...

There are many things going on in the world of celebrity and charity. Let's get right to it! Here's what I wanted to talk about tonight!

If you've been watching The Celebrity Apprentice (and I don't like plugging shows) you'll know that this show is based on who can do the best job each week. If the celebrity wins, they win money for their charity. Tonight is the finale of Joan Rivers versus Annie Duke. I've heard of Annie before this, but of course Joan is more known in the entertainment business. Joan might have done well for her charity by making it to the finals, but I honestly thing Joan has seriously damaged herself with the names she called Annie. Annie "played the game," because after all, that's what it is. She never called anyone such vicious names that Joan did. If I even did have any respect for Joan, even just the respect of her 200 years in show business, it's gone. Annie, YOU HAVE TO WIN THIS.

Annie's charity is Refugees International while Joan's is God's Love We Deliver. Both the charities deserve support.

More tomorrow!

Carlo Ponti -- Music in the Schools

My son, Travis, plays tuba and trumpet in school. If it wasn't for the music lessons he started with in fifth grade, I don't know if he would have been interested in playing an instrument, especially since I don't play (although I've always wanted to play piano) Today, Travis is in high-school and is playing college level music. He's in wind ensemble, jazz band and marching band. This was all because of school music programs, but not all students have this same opportunity. Some parents can't afford private lessons. Others can't afford to rent or buy an instrument . Not every school district can afford a music program. When school budgets are cut, music programs are one of the first to go.

So I love it when I hear that someone is working hard to provide children with opportunities in music. I had a chance to talk to Carlo Ponti, who is the conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra and son of movie legend Sophia Loren (can I say I could listen to him and that accent forever! :))

Carlo is instrumental in bringing classical music to young people -- he leads his symphony’s participation in the public outreach program called “Music in the Schools,” which takes classical music instruments and instruction into every third grade class in the San Bernardino Unified School District in California. He also just completed the annual “Children’s Corner” performance, where he selected an hour’s worth of material for the young audience and supplemented it with commentary to help explain the pieces and their significance.

Carlo Ponti began his musical studies in Paris as a pianist and subsequently attended the Conductor's Institute in Hartford, Connecticut. He holds a master's degree in conducting from the University of California, Los Angeles and has also studied with Maestros Zubin Mehta, Mehli Mehta, Andrey Boreyko and Harold Farberman, and under Leopold Hager and Erwin Accel at the Vienna Musikhochschule.

When were you introduced to music?

I started taking piano when I was about nine years old. Music was always a part of my life. My parents are big fans of classical music, so at a very young age I was trained to the sounds of classical music. My father always suggested that I should be a conductor, so I owed that to him.

What does music mean to you?

I really like that I can express myself through music and I don’t need words...also I’ve generally loved making music.

Committed to encouraging and educating young talent, Ponti holds regular master classes in orchestral conducting and has led the American Youth Symphony Orchestra. Why did you start working with the kids?

We have a musical outreach program which we go in the schools and work with instrumental groups and coach them. We are really fighting to keep the music programs going. Music is the first thing to go (when budgets are cut) and that’s part of the problem in this country. Support for orchestra music is difficult people aren’t as educated about it here. In Europe, music is always an intrinsic part of education.

Why do we not give it the same respect?

It's not the same focus here. There's no tradition of honoring music education in this country. You really need to petition schools, showing the will to make the music education a mandatory part of the program. It has to come from the parents. they need to show that music education is important.

How can we help keep the music alive?

Introduce your child to music -- it teaches them cooperation, diligence and focus. The earlier you teach it to them, the better it is for the child.

When I work with the kids in San Bernardino, we show them how their actions and dedication pay off and it trickles down to them. Maybe you will encounter some children who see you loving something and it will trickle down to them too.

What does working with the kids teach you?

It teaches me so much -- the community doesn’t have much money and the kids are underprivileged. There's gang violence right in their background, but if they see it coming from you, they build a love for something and many of them stick with their instrument, many of them actually flourish as students of music to playing music later.

Ponti's critically praised debut with the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow led to his appointment in 2000 as the Orchestra's Associate Conductor. In 2001, Ponti was named Music Director and Principal Conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra in the United States, a position recently extended through the 2014/2015 season.

Ponti was awarded Italy's prestigious Premio Galileo Award in 2006 for exceptional musical achievement. In the United States, he was the recipient of the 2008 Artistic Achievement Award from the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition for his contributions to the development and advancement of young musical talent throughout the world.

Thanks Carlo!

Keep the music alive!!!!!