For his Stars for Cars giveaway, Luda read essays about contestants’ inability to afford cars to commute to their jobs, and on Sunday, Ludacris and his foundation partnered with a Nissan dealership to give away 20 cars to needy people in the area. The winners were chosen from the approximately 4,000 people who submitted their 300-word essays to the Ludacris Foundation explaining why they needed a car.

In addition to the cars, they also got free gas for 30 days. The contest winners were, however, responsible for tags, registration, tax and insurance.

Combs’ Sean John fashion label produced a limited edition White Party t-shirt with the slogan “Celebrate Life: End Malaria” to help raise awareness and funds for the cause. With every purchase, Sean John will donate two life-saving mosquito nets to help families in Africa protect themselves from malaria. To get more information or to purchase a t-shirt visit www.seanjohn.com/malarianomore.

Malaria No More was born of a simple, startling insight: that ending malaria’s death grip on Africa is the best humanitarian investment we can make in the world today. Nothing else can have the same impact on as many people’s lives and livelihoods as quickly or cheaply.

You can get more information on Malaria No More here.

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The private “power dinner” was sponsored by Sprite Green and was attended by a veritable who’s who in the entertainment and sports industries, including many CEO’s and CMO’s from Fortune 500 companies who are in town for the NBA All-Star Weekend.

The after party with music provided by DJ Mick Boogie and DJ Vice included 500 stars and athletes including Kobe Bryant, Chris Tucker, Michael Strahan, Spike Lee, Jesse Jackson, Beyonce, Gabrielle Union, and several others

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The Diamond Empowerment Fund’s mission is to raise money to support education initiatives that develop and empower economically disadvantaged people in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource. And on World AIDS Day for a continent ravaged by the disease, education is the critical tool to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS.

D.E.F.’s first beneficiary is the Community and Individual Development Association (CIDA City Campus), South Africa’s only free college.

Cassie, Kim Kardashian, and Gayle King were among those in attendance.

He also presented Liz McCartney of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana the 2008 CNN Hero of the Year award for her dedication to helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their homes.

The top 10 CNN Heroes, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel from an initial pool of more than 3,700 viewer nominations, were each honored with a documentary tribute and introduced by a celebrity presenter. Each of the top 10 Heroes receives $25,000.

In alphabetical order, the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2008 are:

Tad Agoglia, Houston, Texas –
Agoglia’s First Response Team provides immediate help to areas hit by natural disasters. In a little over a year, he and his crew have aided thousands of victims at more than 15 sites across the United States, free of charge.

Yohannes Gebregeorgis, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia –
Moved by the lack of children’s books and low literacy rates in his native Ethiopia, Gebregeorgis established Ethiopia Reads, bringing free public libraries and literacy programs to thousands of Ethiopian children.

Carolyn LeCroy, Norfolk, Virginia –
After serving time in prison, LeCroy started The Messages Project to help children stay connected with their incarcerated parents. She and volunteer camera crews have taped roughly 3,000 messages from inmates to their children.

Anne Mahlum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania –
On her daily morning jogs, Mahlum used to run past homeless men. Today, she’s helping to transform lives by running with them, and others as part of her “Back On My Feet” program.

Liz McCartney, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana –
McCartney moved to New Orleans to dedicate herself to helping Hurricane Katrina survivors move back into their homes. Her nonprofit St. Bernard Project has rebuilt the homes of more than 120 families for free.

Phymean Noun, Toronto, Ontario –
Growing up in Cambodia, Noun struggled to complete high school. Today, she offers hundreds of Cambodian children who work in Phnom Penh’s trash dump a way out — through free schooling and job training.

David Puckett, Savannah, Georgia –
Puckett started Positive Image Prosthetics and Orthotics Missions — PIPO — to provide artificial limbs and braces and care to people in southeastern Mexico. Since November 2000 his mission has helped more than 420 people, free of charge.

Maria Ruiz, El Paso, Texas –
Several times a week, Ruiz crosses the border into Juarez, Mexico, to bring food, clothing and toys to hundreds of impoverished children and their families.

Marie Da Silva, Los Angeles, California –
Having lost 14 family members to AIDS, the Los Angeles nanny funds a school in her native Malawi — where half a million children have been orphaned by the disease.

Viola Vaughn, Kaolack, Senegal –
The Detroit, Michigan, native moved to Senegal to retire. Instead, a group of failing schoolchildren asked her to help them pass their classes. Today, her “10,000 Girls” program is helping hundreds of girls succeed in school and run their own businesses.

Actors Cameron Diaz, Salma Hayek, John Krasinski, Forest Whitaker, Meg Ryan, Terrence Howard, Lucy Liu, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale and Selena Gomez were among the stars joining in CNN’s tribute to the top 10.

Madonna, Adrian Grenier, and Timbaland all attended the event.

For Gucci’s fourth annual campaign to benefit UNICEF, they have launched a special white version of its Tattoo Heart Collection. All handbags in the range feature Gucci’s iconic heart and rose design, a colorful print which contrasts with the purses’ stark white backgrounds.

The Gucci UNICEF Tattoo Heart Collection can be bought at Gucci stores in more than 20 countries and it’s available now. 25% of sales from the white Tattoo Heart Collection will be donated to support UNICEF programs for orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.

View the new promo ad for the campaign below:

Among the celebrities in attendance were Jessica Alba, Swizz Beatz, Queen Latifah, Iman, David Bowie, and John Mayer. The evening festivities included a cocktail party followed by a dinner with live performances by Alicia keys, Justin Timberlate, Joni Mitchell, Jack White, Emmanuel Jal and others

The Keep a Child Alive organization assists in providing life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, care and support services to children and their families with HIV/AIDS in Africa and third world countries. The fifth annual black ball is a benefit that raises awareness, supports, and funding. 

 For more information on how you can get involved visit www.keepachildalive.org

Every other year in October, the Carousel of Hope raises millions of dollars in support of treatment and research programs at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. This year’s Carousel was hosted at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on October 25th

The inaugural Annual Team Sizzle Worldwide Celebrity Weekend  contributed a portion of ticket sale proceeds to the “Imagine a World Without Sickle Cell” by benefiting the William E. Proudford Sickle Cell Fund, Inc.

Team Sizzle Celebrity Weekend was put together in celebration of his birthday and in conjunction with his newly formed entertainment company, Team Sizzle Worldwide.

The song includes statements like “Some people came into the world to work, some people came into the world to live large”. According to Nduka Obaigbena, publisher of Nigeria’s This Day newspaper which sponsored the Africa Rising , “Mr Powell could not have been aware of the lyrics of the song,” in an interview with BBC News. The former Secretary of State was addressing the crowd the musicians took the stage. Obaigbena claims, “It would have been rude for him to have refused”.

Powell told the crowd that his own black identity mattered as much as ever and told of the possiblity of African prosperity similar to that of Asia and Eastern Europe. Powell told that crowd that this could be made possible through hard work and foreign investment. “I stand before you tonight as an African-American,” said Powell.”Many people have said to me you became secretary of state of the USA, is it still necessary to say that you are an African-American or that you are black, and I say, yes, so that we can remind our children…It took a lot of people struggling to bring me to this point in history. I didn’t just drop out of the sky, people came from my continent in chains.”

While Powell spoke of the positive turn that Africa could make the theme of the song he danced to was quite different. The Nigerian smash hit which was sung in Yoruba and pidgin reveals the lifestyles of Nigerians who spend money they made from US fraud victims. The song is also accompanied by a popular dance move in Nigerian clubs that involves hand movements that represent stacking up wads of dollar bills.

Artist Olu Maintain whose real name is Olumide Edwards Adegbolu  says the song is a satire, deriding “yahoo-yahoo” culture, not glorifying it. In an attempt to rectify the situation Adegbolu claims, “The message of the song is that if you want the lifestyle of drink cars and women you have to work hard, hustle means work, not cheat.” Colin Powell served as US secretary of state during the first term of the Bush administration, from 2001 to 2005.

Cocktails started flowing for this black tie affair at 6:30 followed by dinner, a live auction and performances by Lupe Fiasco, Patti LaBelle, & Jimmy Fallon…yes Jimmy Fallon…we didn’t know either.

New Yorkers for Children

“There are so many children here who need a place to play. We’re excited to help them.”

The first goal of the “Text CHILD to 90999″ campaign is to build a playground for the children in downtown Los Angeles near a housing project. The building helps families from becoming homeless and houses 175 children, who do not currently have a recreational facility.
Madden said:

“We think there should be a playground on the concrete slab you’re sitting on. It’s bigger than building a playground, but this is an exciting start. And I’ll come play on it. We hope our support will shine a spotlight on important issues facing children and will inspire and educate the public, especially young people, to get involved, too. We want to do more than write checks.”

Helping the project is easy, Nicole and Joel reveal. To donate $5, use your cell phone to text CHILD to 90999, and the money will be charged on your bill the following month. The Richie-Madden Foundation collects the payments from the cell phone carriers, and they fund the playground

The invite only cocktail and shopping event featured a limited-edition basketball that was designed as a charity item by Ralph Lauren.

Sales of the balls benefit the Lebron James Family Foundation which supports fitness programs for kids.

Among the guests in attendance was Jay-Z, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Beckford, and many others.

The colorway’s intriguing, but it’s difficult to imagine hitting the court with a designer-branded basketball anyway.

The performance which took place on Friday at Radio City Music Hall in New York is a charity single co-produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid.

The all-star lineup included Keyshia Cole, Leona Lewis, Fergie, Ciara, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, and Nicole Scherzinger.

If you haven’t purchased the Stand Up 2 Cancer charity single yet, make sure you download it on iTunes.

Rihanna did a rendition of Madonna’s classic hit, “Vogue.” Her boo, Chris Brown performed also. Mary J. Blige and Kid Rock performed together.

The legendary Radio City Music Hall hosted the event which celebrates the powerful relationship between fashion and music. The concert will air Tuesday night, September 9, 2008 in a two-hour special on the CBS at 9pm.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Stand Up To Cancer.

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They walked the red carpet Friday night at Radio City Music Hall amid a media circus angling for glamour shots of other stars including Fergie, Charlize Theron, Miley Cyrus, and Mary J. Blige.

The R&B heartthrob, Chris Brown, soaked up all the attention with a smile as he showed off his dapper ensemble of a black vest and shirt, gray pants, shiny shoes and diamond stud earrings.

“To be a musician and a great entertainer, you have to be a trendsetter. To be a trendsetter, you have to know fashion — and I have fun with it,” explained the singer, who later changed into khakis and a black shirt and scarf for a performance of his hit song “Forever.”

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Phillips de Pury & Co. is holding the Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels auction which will feature around 50 iconic pieces worn by hip hop dignitaries over the years.

Some of the most coveted pieces that will be available include Missy Elliot’s diamond, black diamond and gold turntable ring, Biz Markie’s black and white diamond headphones pendant, Sean “Diddy” Combs diamond and platinum bracelet, Pharrell Williams’ pave diamond Gucci link necklace, Slick Rick’s multicolor diamond-set eye patch and of course Lil’ Jon’s famous diamond and yellow diamond “Crunk Ain’t Dead” pendant which weighs nearly 12 pounds and boasts 3,756 round-cut white diamonds total set in 18K yellow and white gold.

A portion of proceeds from the sale will benefit Russell Simmons’ Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, the Hip Hop Summit Action Network and the Diamond Empowerment Fund.

Phillips de Pury & Co

He also had a prepared speech:

I’m here today to stand with the ColorofChange.org. Over 600,000 people of every color across the country are demanding that Fox stop their racist attacks on the Obama family and on black America. We already know that Fox is not a news network. They are a propaganda machine but their racist attacks have gone way too far. Calling Michele Obama ‘Barack’s baby momma?’ Tell me is that acceptable to you? Is that racist?”

“Fox poisons this country every time they air racist propaganda and try to call it news. “This should outrage every American that Fox uses hateful language to talk about the person who may be the first black president. It’s offensive to black Americans. It’s offensive to all Americans. That’s why I wrote on my new album a song called, ‘Sly Fox,’”

“Watch what you watchin’/ Fox keeps feeding us toxins/ stop sleepin’/ start thinkin’.”

Nas was all smiles as he handed over the 600,000 petitions against Fox News.

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Artists, entertainers, and political figures arrived in shades of violet to Russell Simmons’ East Hampton estate for the benefit which was hosted by Honorary Chairs Tamia and Grant Hill to the theme of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Highlighted by live and silent auctions, this year’s gala will featured frocks, jewels, and other accessories donated by A-list fashion designers. In addition to fashion, there were many featured artists, beneficiaries, honorees, celebrities, and influential figures in attendance.

The ART FOR LIFE East Hampton benefit gala is Rush Philanthropic’s primary annual fundraising effort to support nearly 50 organizations, fostering artistic expression of disadvantaged New York City youth.

The event take place in Miami from July 9th through 13th proceeds benefit the Alonzo Mourning Charities and Wade’s World Foundation.

Now in its 11th year, Zo’s Summer Groove offers something for everyone this summer over a five-day weekend of events … from golf to comedy, a concert, benefit dinner, free block party, all-star basketball game and tons of after-parties.

Main Event Schedule

City Furniture ZSG Golf Classic
Thursday, July 10th
9am to 2pm
Doral Golf Resort & Spa
*** Special Guest include New York Giants’ Super Bowl Champ Michael Strahan

Publix Charities Summer Groove Beach Ball (Benefit Dinner)
Friday, July 11th
7:00 pm
InterContinental Hotel in Downtown Miami
***Special Musical Performance by Queen Latifah presented by Pepsi

Heineken ZSG Comedy Jam
Saturday, July 12th
8:00 pm
Hard Rock Live
***Hosted by Chris Tucker

ZSG Block Party
Sunday, July 13th
1pm to 6pm
Outside the American Airlines Arena
*** Free and open to the public

Carnival Cruise Lines ZSG All-Star Basketball Game
Sunday, July 13th
6:30pm
American Airlines Arena
*** It is “old school vs. new school” as Zo’s teams challenges Wade’s team in a thrilling fast pace game, scoring big for Alonzo Mourning Charities and the Wade’s World Foundation.

Cartier recently launched the new 2008 “Love” jewelry collection with an elaborate campaign entitled “How Far Would You Go For Love?” including a sleek new website and specially commissioned short films and original songs on the theme of love.

More importantly, the “Love” collection includes the “Love Charity” bracelet, a set of intertwined 18 carat white and pink gold rings on a silk cord. A portion of each sale of the “Love Charity” bracelet will be donated to Action Against Hunger, an international, non-governmental, non-religious, non-profit organization that tackles hunger in 43 countries worldwide and seeks to alleviate malnutrition amongst children.

It’s a modest gesture from those who have much to be thankful for on behalf of those who have nothing. To learn more about Cartier’s charitable initiative, please visit the Love website and click on “Love Charity”.

Love Website

At the benefit dinner which was held at The Foundry at Puritan Mill, this year’s honorees included Earvin “Magic” Johnson and The Magic Johnson Foundation, The Chairman’s Award; Anheuser-Busch accepted by Johnny Furr, Jr., The Corporate Award; and Frank Ski and Frank Ski Kids Foundation Inc., The Community Service Award.

The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute founded entity is an organization founded by Mary J. Blige to inspire women from all walks of life to reach their individual potential. Through scholarships, grants, and programs that foster strong self-esteem, career development, and personal growth, FFAWN is intended to help women gain the confidence and skills they need to achieve success.

FFAWN Website

TJ Martell’s Family Day provides hundreds of families with an opportunity to participate in a day filled of fun, safe indoor gaming, sport and carnival activities and family fun to raise money for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS research. Now in its ninth year, Family Day has steadily grown into one of the Martell Foundation’s most successful events.

With all the things she has going on, Rihanna is squeezing one more job onto her resume. The R&B/pop star has been named the Ambassador for Culture and Youth of Barbados. Prime Minister David Thompson appointed her but did not say what her duties will include.

Thompson said that in light of all of Rihanna’s recent achievements, including her Grammy award for the smash hit “Umbrella,” the singer should be formally recognized as a positive role model and source of inspiration for the country.

At the tribute concert open to the public, Rihanna also received a Land Rover and a diamond bracelet from some of the event’s sponsors, along with a birthday cake to celebrate her birthday. Of course no birthday is complete without a date, so she was accompanied to the tribute by her rumored romantic interest, R&B star Chris Brown.

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