Typically, she makes headlines for shaking her hips in outrageous midriff baring outfits while belting out Grammy award-winning tunes, but these days singer Shakira is getting more attention for promoting a project she describes as important as her musical career—helping children living in poverty.
The 29-year-old singing sensation has launched a star-studded foundation to combat child poverty: the Latin America in Solidarity Action, whose Spanish acronym is ALAS, or “wings.” Earlier this week, Shakira joined forces with fellow Colombian and Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez to launch the campaign in Panama City. At the ceremony the celebrities pledged “to fight conditions that kill 350,000 children each year in the region.”
Many Shakira fans may not know that ALAS was conceived by her about a year ago and is only one of the singer’s pet projects. (Shakira also heads the Colombia-based nonprofit foundation Pies Descalzos or “Barefoot,” which helps child victims of violence. She started that foundation when she was just 18, after her first hit record.)
“As soon as I harvested that success, I created that foundation,” Shakira told news reporters last year. “Now it’s really growing and has tangible results.”
Shakira has also recruited other famous musicians to aid her efforts. According to the singer’s publicist, Spanish singer Miguel Bose will serve as executive director of ALAS. Bose notes that foundation “will not seek to replace other organizations that work with children or eliminate governments’ obligation to eradicate poverty; rather, ALAS plans to bolster existing efforts.” For example, according to ALAS directors, one of the foundation’s programs is designed to provide health and nutritional aid to expectant mothers and children younger than 2, while another will seek to enroll exploited and homeless kids in school.
Meanwhile, in Hollywood, an A-lister there is making headlines for his efforts to help children by preserving the environment for them. Leonardo DiCaprio is on a mission to raise awareness about global warming. In a unique move, the award-winning actor posted a question on the “Yahoo! Answers” website, prompting visitors to share their solutions on how to solve the living-threatening problem.
“We can all be environmentalists,” DiCaprio told reporters yesterday. “Creating communities online that are interested in discussing and embracing smart, simple and serious solutions reminds us we can all take action in our own homes and where we work.”
Using the online forum to generate solutions to the growing problem was the brainchild of members of the environmental organization Global Green USA (DiCaprio serves on its board of directors). Group members say it was meant to “provoke thought about what people can do in their own lives and what leaders can do to take us in a different course.”
So many issues, so little time. What do you think about celebrities using their status to promote causes like those mentioned above?
Related Articles:
Bob Barker Pays To House Elephant
Hollywood Celebrity Gives Early Christmas Present to Alma Mater
Gimmie, Gimme, Gimmie—Give, Give, Give: Charitable Celebrities Lend a Helping Hand