Those to whom much has been given, much is expected, right?
With Valentine’s Day upon us, let’s take a look at a few of the shining stars in love who are also partners in charity.
Who: The Jolie-Pitts, top the list, of course.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s power coupling is a combustion of otherworldly attractiveness, but they balance out their near superhumanness with super generosity as well. The Giving Back Fund ranked the couple second (after the late Paul Newman) on their list of my generous celebrities.
The breakdown:
$13.5 million went to their Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which distributed $6.4 million to charity, including a $2 million grant to The Global Health Committee for an Ethiopian clinic project, a $1 million grant to the Make it Right Foundation founded by Pitt, and $500,000 to the Armed Services YMCA USA. Approximately $1 million went to fund projects in Cambodia and another $1 million recently went to Doctor’s Without Borders for Haiti relief.
Who: Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi
The breakdown:
Ellen and Portia are not only one of the most popular celebrity couples, but their hearts are as open as their wallets. Ellen’s ties to New Orleans prompted her to raise $10 million for Hurricane Katrina relief (with $800,000 going to buddy Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation). She and wife, Portia are huge animal lovers and all proceeds from a charity auction that Ellen held on eBay benefited the Humane Society. She has also just set up another charity auction to help with Haiti relief. Ellen also supports St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the Red Cross, Artists Against Racism, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, Clothes Off Our Back, Peace Games, and Project Cuddle.
Who: Will and Jada Pinkett Smith
The breakdown: The Fresh Prince and his lady love are a funny and fun-loving pair, but they take their donations seriously. In addition to the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, a charity which focuses on helping youths in urban inner cities, Jada donated $1 million to the Baltimore School for the Arts (in memory of her friend and former classmate there, rapper Tupac Shakur), and their foundation along with the Lupus Foundation of America and Maybelline, raised funds for the LFA at the first annual “Butterflies Over Hollywood” in 2007. According to the Giving Back Fund, the couple donated over $1 million in 2008, with funds going to benefit Malaria No More ($249,000), and to the Make A Wish Foundation ($50,000).
Who: Sandra Bullock and Jesse James
The breakdown: Glamour magazine called the Oscar-nominated actress, “The Undercover Activist” in a headline in 2006 for her under-the-radar gift of giving which The Blind Side star’s tally so far includes:
$1 million to the American Red Cross after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
$1 million to the American Red Cross after the tsunami in 2004.
“Tens of thousands of dollars” (the amount was never fully disclosed) went to rebuild Warren Easton High School in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
$1 million to Doctor’s Without Borders for Haiti relief.
Sandy offered her thoughts to Glamour as to why she keeps her donations on the down low.
” I don’t want to be seen as the kind of person who does things and then expects publicity in return. I look at it as, I happen to have the means, I have the energy and I have the passion to do what I want to do.”
Photo courtesy WikimediaCommons
