Academy Awards Archives - Charity Matters

Charity Matters Inspiration February 29, 2016

And the Oscar goes to…

A Girl in the River:The Price of Forgiveness for Documentary Short film, a movie I never saw. For that matter I didn’t even see one of the documentary short films. Did you? Where would you even go to see it, if you wanted too? I honestly have no idea.

I love the Academy Awards. The glamor, the red carpet, the films…I love it all. The power a film has to tell a story, to make us think, to feel and reflect upon our human condition, is pure magic. The art of storytelling can create change.

As I watched last nights show, along with billions of others, I was inspired by the woman from Pakistan, Sharmeen Chinoy, whose film told a story, that has done just that. One woman used her gift to inspire others. You don’t need to start a non-profit to make a difference, you simply have to use your gifts to help another. That is who the real winners are.

Charity Matters.

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Ways to make a difference February 25, 2013

The Oscars, the day after:Closets for Causes

What happens the day after the Oscars? I think it’s a little bit like the day after a parade… so much excitement, excess and fun and then what? Where do all of those Red Carpet moments of glamour and excess go? Most end up in video clips for eternity but what happens the next day to the items left behind from that magical night?

Well, many of them go back to the stylist and are then returned to the designer but many are given to the celebrity who wears them. The result is closets filled to the rim with amazing designer clothes, bags, etc. One stylist, Talia Bella saw the waste and excess as an opportunity to make a difference. She did so, by founding Closets for Causes.

What Closets for Causes does is bridge the gap between style and philanthropy. They raise serious funds by liquidating celebrity client’s closets and organizing the sale via eBay. Those funds in turn go the charity the celebrity chooses. The result brings attention and funds to an important cause and makes our celebrity crazed society happy to own a piece of celebrity fashion.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT8fRWgoL-4]

So whether you are a fashionista, a celebrity stalker or just someone who needs something new in your closet you can follow the companies mantra, “Shop good, do good, look good.”

Red carpet or not, making a difference is way more beautiful than anything else you do.

Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2013 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

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What Matters? February 24, 2012

Motion Picture and Television Fund

Since I live in a “company town” called Los Angeles, this weekend everyone is a buzz with the Academy Awards. With this years films (The Artist and Hugo) telling the story of film making, it seemed only fitting to tell the story of the non-profit that started 90 years ago with the advent of silent films.

The Motion Picture & Television Fund began with a simple coin box in Hollywood where industry workers would deposit spare change for their fellow colleagues. Right from the start, their mission was “We Take Care of Our Own.”

Industry legends as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks realized the need for reaching out to those in the entertainment industry who fell upon hard times. In 1921, the Motion Picture Relief Fund (MPRF) was incorporated to provide help to those in the motion picture industry who were in need.

An acting couple ( a character actor and his chorus girl wife ) were the first recipients of this new organization. The husband became partially paralyzed and was unable to work. MPRF paid their $40 hotel bill, arranged rent, and helped to find work.

The advent of talkies in the late twenties brought many changes to the film industry. While talkies launched many new careers, hundreds of actors, directors and writers who had not foreseen the change to the industry or their livelihood, became unemployed. MPRF came to their aid.

As more requests for assistance were made, celebrity-packed benefits were held to raise the needed funds. What started out as the Motion Picture Relief Fund has today developed into a comprehensive service organization which operates six outpatient health centers throughout the greater Los Angeles area; a children’s center; a retirement community, health plans and much, much more.

The Motion Picture & Television Fund mission remains the same today as it did during the advent of film, to protect and preserve the health and quality of life of those who devote so much of their lives to a career in the entertainment industry.

So for all of those who have entertained us both in front and behind the cameras. Thank you. The magic of film making and the magic of caring for one another simply never grows old. Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2012 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

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