Kristen Seymour: Kelly Rutherford and Other Celebs Light Up the Holidays

The holiday season reminds us all to step it up (although, as Cat mentioned, this isn't the only time of year volunteers are needed). That's not only true for us, but for celebrities, too.

Kelly Rutherford is one of many stars who is not just working to improve the world herself, but is also encouraging you to make a difference. The Gossip Girl actress has been promoting efficient lighting products from Sylvania for a while and this Christmas, she's doing so in a really visual way — with a CFL tree!

She says, "Sylvania has made it easy for consumers to make eco-friendly lighting decisions with its new Living Spaces collection — I've put them everywhere in my new house and we love the instant-on, cozy light. When we lounge in the living room or entertain in the kitchen, we feel good about being energy efficient without having to sacrifice light quality."

Maggie Gyllenhaal is spreading a different kind of light — she has joined up with Duracell's Power a Smile campaign to bring a little joy to children who are hospitalized in local communities. She just helped them announce the 2008 Duracell Holiday Ambassadors, who range in age from 6 to 15 years old. After meeting the kids, Maggie joined them in delivering Mattel toys (along with Duracell batteries, naturally) to the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. Maybe the next step will include rechargeable batteries.

Interested in helping out? Go to the Power a Smile website to upload a photo of a smile. For every one that's uploaded, Duracell will donate $1 to the Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, and those photos will be shown on the Duracell website.

Other celebrities like to whoop it up for a good cause, like for last week's Farm Sanctuary Winter Wonderland. Attendees included Jennifer Coolidge, Laurie Anderson, Corey Feldman, and others who enjoyed vegan food from New York restaurants. And, as is par for the course at these shindigs, an auction took place to raise funds for the worthy cause.

So now, let me ask this: what do you have planned this holiday season? How will you make a difference?

Photo courtesy of ecorazzi.com