Last July, we shared a list of five highly-rated charities founded by some of your favorite celebrities. We’re back with another list of great organizations started by a few familiar faces!
Keep reading to learn more about what George Clooney, Dolly Parton, Michael J. Fox, Bette Midler, and Jay-Z are passionate about and how they’re turning that into action.
George Clooney
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Bringing global attention to forgotten international crises
Not On Our Watch is committed to robust advocacy and research in support of global human rights. Drawing upon figures with powerful voices, we develop projects and campaigns that bring global attention to forgotten international crises. We target mass media and global policy-makers. We encourage governing bodies to take meaningful, immediate action to protect the vulnerable and create consequences for the perpetrators of war crimes and thir accomplices. Drawing on our history of providing humanitarian assistance, we now focus on addressing root causes to help bring an end to complex conflicts in the regions of the world not typically prioritized by the international community.
Dolly Parton???
Fostering a love of reading among preschool children
Dolly Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee with the goal of fostering a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income. Beginning in 2000, the program is available for replication to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally.
Michael J. Fox????
Dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease within the decade through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today. For The Michael J. Fox Foundation, there is one clear measure of success: delivering patients better treatments and, ultimately, a cure for Parkinson’s disease. We’ve developed a targeted approach to research funding that helps us identify and prioritize the patient-relevant science that will allow us to reach our goal. Since we began in 2000, the Foundation has funded over $800 million in Parkinson’s research, either directly or through partnerships.
Bette Midler??? + Impact
Promoting a cleaner, more beautiful New York
Founded in 1995 by Bette Midler, the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) carries out Midler’s dream of a cleaner, more beautiful New York. NYRP restores, develops, and revitalizes underserved parks, community gardens, and open space in New York City. We invest in the communities we serve by providing on-going maintenance and programs because we believe that every individual has the right to a beautiful neighborhood and the responsibility for contributing to its care. Now into our second decade, we’ve removed over 875 tons of garbage from project sites and reclaimed more than 400 acres of under-resourced and rundown parkland. We’ve rescued scores of community gardens from commercial development and served over 10,000 at-risk urban youngsters with free environmental education programs.
Jay-Z???? + Impact
Helping individuals facing socio-economic hardships
The mission of the Shawn Carter Foundation is to help individuals facing socio-economic hardships further their education at post secondary institutions. The Shawn Carter Foundation was established in 2003 as a public charity (“Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund”) by Shawn Carter and his mother, Gloria Carter. Since the Foundation’s inception, over $3.6M have supported initiatives to empower youth and communities in need through the Foundation’s signature scholarship fund, annual college tours, study abroad experiences, counseling initiatives, and giveback programs.
Dolly Parton
Michael J. Fox
Bette Midler
Jay-Z
