Katharine McPhee Launches U.S. Hunger-Free Summer Initiative for Kids

For many kids, the end of the school year is a time to celebrate, plan summer vacations, and play with friends. But for millions of children, the time away from school means not knowing where their next meal will come from. With the goal of helping ensure more children have enough to eat all year long, ConAgra Foods has partnered with Feeding America to create the Hunger-Free Summer initiative.

Among those supporting the program is 2006 “American Idol” runner-up, Katharine McPhee.

“This summer, I am going to be traveling across the country to Feeding America food banks from Orlando to Los Angeles – to volunteer my time and, more importantly, to raise awareness about this important issue,” said McPhee. “I want to challenge every community to come together to help end child hunger in the United States.”

McPhee is launching Hunger-Free Summer on Wednesday, July 7, with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida in Orlando at New Image Youth Center from 11:30a.m. until 1:00p.m. While at the site, Katharine will be volunteering her time, raising awareness for the cause, and singing with the children served by the center.

Throughout the month of July, McPhee will travel across the country to other Feeding America food banks to raise awareness. Upcoming locations and dates include:

— Irvine, Calif. – Monday, July 12
— Little Rock, Ark. – Wednesday, July 14
— Houston, Texas – Week of July 26

For more information, please visit www.conagrafoodsfoundation.org/summer or http://feedingamerica.org/hungerfreesummer.

Jason Mraz To Perform At 10th Annual Trevor New York Summer Gala

Jason Mraz will be performing at the 10th annual Trevor New York Summer Gala on Monday, June 28th. Celebrity guests will include Dustin Lance Black, Mark Consuelos, Ardin Myrin, Ana Ortiz, Kelly Ripa and more. The Trevor Project will also honor actress/singer Vanessa Williams.

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. For more information, visit TheTrevorProject.org.

Jason Mraz, always a passionate and vocal advocate for national marriage equality, wears the “Fight For Equality” pendant and appears in the “Give A Damn” marriage equality information campaign alongside Elton John, Sharon Osbourne, Anna Paquin and others.

No Doubt Holds Auction for Charity

PRNewsFoto/Interscope Records, John Shearer

Now that No Doubt is busy recording their new album, the band has decided to put some costumes and vintage memorabilia to good use by auctioning the items for charity.

The auction will include costumes from No Doubt’s 2009 U.S. tour, instruments they have played on stage and in videos, out of print vinyl, drummer Adrian Young’s old “tuxedo” and other one-of-a-kind items from the No Doubt archives. Says No Doubt front-woman, Gwen Stefani, “The tour last summer was so amazing, it was exactly what we needed to inspire the new record. Now that we’re in the studio we wanted do something special for the fans who did so much for us. It’ll be really fun to share the costumes – they’re wicked. A lot of the stuff was really hard to part with, but the money we’ll be able to raise, together with the fans, will be worth it. These charities need us, badly. It means a lot to us as a band to be able to support all the hard work they do.” Read more

Carrie Underwood Helps Create Fund To Aid Flood Relief

Reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Carrie Underwood and ACM Lifting Lives have committed seed funding to create the new ACM Lifting Lives Temporary Home Fund to support relief efforts for families devastated by the recent floods in Middle Tennessee. The Fund takes its name from Underwood’s co-penned hit song “Temporary Home,” in acknowledgement of the immediate needs surrounding those impacted by the floods.

Donations can be made NOW by texting ACM to 501501 through August 2010. Text donations are confirmed by replying with YES, and can be made up to three times. Donations can also be made online at www.ACMliftinglives.org and at www.CBS.com/give. For information on the funding application process, visit www.cfmt.org. Read more

Brad Paisley Donates $100,000 To The Nashville Flood Relief

Last night during a celebrity charity telethon for flood flood relief in Nashville, country star Brad Paisley donated $100,000.

To kick off the telethon, Paisley sang his track “Welcome To The Future”, before announcing, “I think it’s time to start things off with a donation. We’re going to donate $100,000.”

Brad Paisley wasn’t the only star present. Keith Urban, Kellie Pickler, Sheryl Crow, and Lady Antebellum performed last night as well.

The country stars helped raise over $1.5 million dollars for the flood relief, but no one has matched Taylor Swift’s massive donation of $500,000 that she gave a week or so ago.

Taylor Swift Donates $500K To Nashville Flood Relief

Grammy winner Taylor Swift is donating $500,000 to various organizations involved in Nashville’s flood relief efforts. Taylor moved to Nashville when she was 14 years old and she understands the severity of the flooding and she wants to help in any way she can. Taylor announced her donation Thursday night following Vince Gill’s telethon to raise money for all the victims of the disaster.

“Being at home during the storm, I honestly could not believe what was happening to the city and the people I love so dearly,” Swift told The Associated Press in an e-mail. “Nashville is my home, and the reason why I get to do what I love. I have always been proud to be a Nashvillian, but especially now, seeing the love that runs through this city when there are people in crisis.”

Country Music Assoc. to Donate All Proceeds of 2010 CMA Music Festival to Flood Relief

In response to the devastating floods that have plagued the City of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, CMA has announced that 50 percent of the net proceeds of 2010 CMA Music Festival will be donated to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for flood relief. This is in addition to CMA’s already established annual donation of 50 percent of the net proceeds to Metro Nashville Public Schools for music education through the Keep the Music Playing program. In total, 100 percent of the net proceeds of the event will be given to benefit Nashville’s public school students and Middle Tennessee families in need. Read more

Ke$ha To Donate Concert Profits To Help Benefit Nashville

Ke$ha has announced that she will be performing at a flood benefit concert in Nashville on June 16th. All profits will go to help family and animals affected by the flood.

Ke$ha said:

“I’m thrilled to announce that I will be playing a show to help benefit Nashville, my hometown. 100% of the profits from ticket sales will go to help the victims of these devastating floods. Nashville helped shape me as an artist and as a person and my love for this city is beyond words. I will continue to do anything I can to help rebuild this city and support the families and animals who have been affected by this tragedy.”

Fans can even pay $100 for a meet and greet with her. It’s for a great cause, do it! Read more

Nick Jonas and Bayer Diabetes Care Announce ‘Give Back. Simply Win.’

(PRNewsFoto/Bayer Diabetes Care)

We love hearing about celebrities who are making a difference!

A new contest, “Give Back. Simply Win.” sponsored by Bayer Diabetes Care will shine a spotlight on people with diabetes who are making a difference in their local communities. Three grand prize winners will meet international singing sensation Nick Jonas and Bayer will donate $5,000 to three not-for-profit charitable causes, one selected by each winner.

Bayer’s “Give Back. Simply Win.” contest was designed to reward people with diabetes for their charitable efforts. Entering the contest is simple; it is open to people with diabetes in three age categories: 6 to 12, 13 to 17 and 18+ years. Contestants can visit www.NicksSimpleWins.com and answer three questions about their charitable efforts. Nick and a team of judges will select one grand prize winner from each of the three age categories. The contest begins today and entries will be accepted until August 5, 2010. Read more

Pink Performs With Linda Perry At The Beverly Hilton

At the annual Evening With Women event in Los Angeles Saturday night, Linda Perry and Pink did a surprise performance of the hit song, “What’s Up?” A.K.A. “What’s Going On?”

We happened to be there and let me tell you, Pink brought the crowd to their feet with her powerful and moving performance. Prior to the performance Pink appeared onstage during the live auction sitting atop a Vespa that sold for $12,000. Pink let the winning bidder sit on the bike with her and be photographed with the singer who had a lit cigarette in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

In the past few years it has been known that there was some friction between Pink and Linda Perry but they squashed those rumors last night and it was quite obvious they are friends.

An Evening With Women is an annual benefit to raise money for the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center.

Check out the video below.

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