Community Champions - Honoring Everyday Heroes
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Community Champs - We honor charitable celebrity moms who've given donations, time and talent to help those in need.
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Brandy - R&B singer Brandy has teamed up with footwear manufacturer Skechers for its “Nothing Compares to Family” ad campaign which benefits Brandy’s Norwood Kids Foundation, dedicated to enriching the cultural life of at-risk youth through safe and productive community alternatives.<BR><BR>Of course the Skechers ad features Brandy and her 6-year-old daughter Sy’rai Smith.
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Erykah Badu - Beyond providing for her children and encouraging fans, as well as other pop icons to volunteer their time and talent, Erykah Badu is directly involved in philanthropic pursuits. Her charity organization, Beautiful Love Incorporated Non-Profit Development (B.L.I.N.D.), provides community-driven development for inner-city youth through music, dance, theater and visual arts.
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Halle Berry - New mom Halle Berry was inspired to become a major spokesperson for women’s cancer causes after discovering her obstetrician’s wife was battling breast cancer. Earlier this year, Berry was announced as the 2008 Ambassador for the Calloway Golf Foundation Women’s Cancer Initiative. The initiative aims to fast-track breakthrough treatments and tests at leading cancer institutions to beat women’s cancer.
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Holly Robinson-Peete - As if television actress, mother, author and fashion designer wasn’t enough, Holly Robinson-Peete can now add Co-founder of The HollyRod Foundation to her list of accomplishments. The foundation is dedicated to providing medical, physical and emotional support to those suffering with debilitating life circumstances, especially Parkinson’s disease.
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Jada Pinkett-Smith - Jada is a jack of all trades, excelling in Hollywood on the big screen an on the stage. She is also a major investor in the black female-owned cosmetics business, Carol's Daughter, and most importantly a big supporter of the development and enrichment of family. With husband Will Smith, Jada founded the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation to benefit inner-city community development, youth educational projects and under-privileged children and their families.
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Laila Ali - The knockout mom has been like a parent to many. When Ali’s not in the ring, she is fighting childhood hunger. The daughter of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali has teamed up with Uncle Ben’s, the number one rice brand, to open Kids Cafe locations around the country and provide free meals and snacks to low-income children.
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Macy Gray - There's no argument that the mother of three sings and gives from the soul, forming M Gray Music Academy, an educational facility that offers young people in the LA area after-school and weekend activities, including voice and drum lessons and recording techniques. Gray also showed her soul when she started an organization called One by One after Hurricane Katrina with the goal to help families get back on their feet.
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Melanie Brown - From Scary Spice to mother and wife, Mel B. still finds the time to give back and help others. She recently spiced things up at a charity auction, where she offered contents from her home and all her Spice Girl costumes to raise money for CLIC Sargent, an organization that cares for young people with cancer and their families both in hospitals and in the community. She has also supported Beat Bullying and Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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Tamia - Tamia is trying to do it all – be a supportive wife to husband Grant Hill, a mother, and work with charities, such as the Ronald McDonald House Charities. She joins Hollywood’s brightest to take action in improving the health and well being of children and families across the world.
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Thandie Newton - Thandie Newton cleaned out her closet for charity, donating dresses to be auctioned off for a great cause. The actress and mother of two daughters is a supporter of Breast Cancer Care whose vision is that everyone affected by breast cancer will receive the highest standards of treatment, support and care.
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Tichina Arnold - Tichina Arnold has that motherly charisma about her, so it’s only fitting that she’d be involved in a youth focused charity. Her charity of choice is Five Star, a national public charity dedicated to improving life for child victims of abuse and neglect through education, public policy and reform.
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Tisha Campbell - TV and real-life mom, Tisha Campbell, supports the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation with husband, actor Duane Martin. The foundation focuses on education and inner-city family welfare.<BR><BR>Malcolm-Jamal Warner and <i>America’s Next Top Model</i> winner Mercedes Scelba have also joined the cause to raise awareness.
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Vanessa Williams - She's not the mean momma she portrays on her hit TV show “Ugly Betty.” The actress takes pride in being a role model for her four kids, as well as other children in the community. Her contributions to the SOS Children’s Village exemplify the motto – “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child.” The organization has more than fifty years of achievements as a children's charity, and today, nearly a million children worldwide directly benefit from their work.
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Whitney Houston - When Whitney Houston sang "I believe that the children are our future...", she really meant it. The pop diva and mother has led a life of service to others when not on screen or behind a microphone. She formed the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children - an organization that cared for the homeless and children with cancer and AIDS.
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Jennifer Lopez - The 39-year-old singer, wife and mother, found a charitable way to work off her baby fat. She recently competed in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon and raised $127,000 for the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, a facility that provides seriously ill children with medical care from some of the country’s best doctors regardless of their families’ ability to pay.