Meet Scarlett Johannson

Scarlett Johannson is auctioning off two tix on eBay to the world premiere of He’s Just Not That Into You.

The winner will get: two tix to the July premiere; a chauffeured car to take them there; hair & make-up by Prive; a meet-and-greet with Scarlett Johannson.

All proceeds will go to Oxfam America.

 

20 Questions for Isabel Allende

1. What is an irresistible human trait?
Kindess.

2. What is the highest form of giving?
To give time and love.

3. What is your most positive flaw?
Generosity.

4. What skill do you wish you possessed?
I wish I could sing beautifully.

5. Which is more important: security or passion?
Passion. I am not interested in security, it’s boring and it’s also an illusion because life is risky and no one can be totally safe all the time.

6. What is your driving force?
Feminism. The desire to be independent, free, and fend for myself and my children.

7. Who are your favorite writers?
Too many to name them.

8. Who are your heroes?
Women who care for others, support their families, struggle with poverty, abuse and repression, and also manage to love and sing in spite of all odds.

9. What does the Isabel Allende Foundation do?
My Foundation tries to empower women and girls in the areas of education, health and protection. We believe that if we empower a woman, we save a family, and if we help families, the community at large benefits. By empowering women we can change the world. An empowered woman will educate her children and raise strong daughters.

10. Name three things that empower women.
Women need educational skills to support themselves. Health is essential, and that includes prevention and contraception. Women should be organized, keep in touch with each other and be informed, because isolation makes them vulnerable. Together they are strong.

11. Name three Bay Area nonprofits that need support.
Homeless Prenatal.
Mujeres Unidas y Activas.
Women’s Recovery Services.

12. What is the sweetest smell?
The smell of a baby.

13. What is the loveliest sound?
The laughter of children.

14. What do you do to relax?
Write.

15. What is your daily creed?
Do no harm and do good whenever possible.

16. Which novel is in your carry-on bag?
I travel all the time and in my carry-on there are always six or seven books. I don’t have just one book with me. I seldom read a book twice because there are too many good writers out there and not enough time in my life to read them all.

17. Where (and/or with whom) do you feel truly at home?
I feel at home where Willie, my husband, is. It can be in a plane, on a safari in Africa or underwater. He is my home.

18. What motivates people to give?
In most cases, the motivation to give is simple generosity and compassion, but I have heard that some people give to show off their wealth. It used to be diamonds, now it’s philanthropy. Excellent! The motivation doesn’t really matter, as long as they give.

19. What is a food you couldn’t live without?
Water.

20. What is the soundtrack of your life?
Silence. The sounds of Nature are enough for me.

Loud Bold Brad

“Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold.”

—Brad Pitt, founder of New Orleans’ Make It Right

The Poor Man’s Banker

“I did something that challenged the banking world. Conventional banks look for the rich; we look for the absolutely poor. All people are entrepreneurs, but many don’t have the opportunity to find that out.” —Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank

“Each of us has much more hidden inside us than we have had a chance to explore. Unless we create an environment that enables us to discover the limits of our potential, we will never know what we have inside of us.” —Muhammad Yunus, winner of Nobel Peace Prize 2006

Makin’ It Right in New Orleans

“The first responsibility is to help those that are the most vulnerable. And we failed – and failed miserably.” —Brad Pitt, Make It Right

Learn how to help make it right at www.makeitrightnola.org

Makin’ It Right

“The misconception is that it was nature. But this is manmade – decades and decades of erroneous engineering moves and really, really bad, bad irresponsible moves that I believe government has a responsibility to make right.” —Brad Pitt, who is working with Global Green USA on the Holy Cross Project to rebuild New Orleans’ ravaged Ninth Ward with environmentally-friendly homes.

Find out how you can help at www.globalgreen.org.

Hammer Time

“Animals are being threatened with extinction and the young generation is is being imprisoned for criminal activities. We are looking for supporters so that small business enterprises and conservation education programs can be introduced to the community. There is a chance to rehabilitate the national park’s biodiversity and its people.”

Hammer Simwinga, winner of the 2007 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa

Click link to read about Hammer’s work in Zambia: https://philanthroflash.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/0705_recognition_v2-11.pdf

Give a Goat to Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. In the isolated Grand’Anse region, the American Friends Service Committee‘s program includes reforestation, fisheries and other economic projects–and the only health clinic and training center for some 40,000 people.

Your donation of $25 will buy one female goat for a Haitian. www.afsc.org