Carmelo Anthony, or Melo, as he is fondly called by fans, is a speaker for the Family Resource Center and aids in organizing “A Very Melo Christmas,” a Christmas party for underprivileged children. He donated $1.5 million to the Living Classrooms Foundation, a non-profit organization that offers modern education, job training and community service programs for more than 35,000 children, youth and young adults in the East Baltimore community.

After the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Melo Anthony bestowed the relief efforts with $35,000, which came from a regular game against San Antonio and Houston where each of his points was worth $1,000. He also donated $3,000,000 toward the newly-planned basketball practice facility at Syracuse University. The facility will be named the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center.

Carmelo Anthony was also ranked 8th in 2006’s The Giving Back 30 List of Largest Charitable Donations by Celebrities.

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Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Jada and Will’s foundation offers support to the youth in urban inner cities. It was given the David Angell Humanitarian Award by the ASA (American Screenwriters Association) in 2006 in recognition of the foundation’s projects that focus on education, violence prevention and family wellbeing.

In December 2006, Jada Pinkett-Smith gave $1 million dollars to the Baltimore School for the Arts in honor of the famous late rapper Tupac Shakur, who used to be her classmate and good friend in her schooldays.

In 2007, the Will and Jada Smith Foundation, in cooperation with Maybelline and the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), held the initial “Butterflies Over Hollywood” at the El Rey Theatre, LA in support of Smith’s aunt who was diagnosed with the lupus disease. There were more than 300 guests and celebrities who showed up to help raise funds for professional educational programs and the LFA.

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Apart from specializing in business, Richard Branson also focuses on philanthropic activities. For a time, he was contributing initiatives for South Africa. In fact, he worked with singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel to contribute to the founding of The Elders, a group of world leaders working together to solve world issues. The organization was also supported by South African leader Nelson Mandela.

In addition, he also established the Branson School of Entrepreneurship, an institution that works in partnership with Virgin Unite, in South Africa in 2005. The school works on the improvement of the economy in the country by promoting startup companies and small businesses with mentors, skills, networks, finance arrangements and services. Richard Branson was on trips to regions in South Africa to coach and mentor students.

Moreover, Richard Branson was the first famous guest in Reserve Dinners, a renowned charity fund raiser, raising money of more than $75,000 in one night toward his Virgin United aid group.

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As an active philanthropist, Tony Robbins formed his own charity called the Anthony Robbins Foundation. It started out as a campaign to give away bags of groceries anonymously to poverty stricken homes every year at Thanksgiving Day. Through the years, it has improved and now serves over 500,000 individuals each year all over the world. His philanthropic organization performs such deeds particularly during the holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. What Tony Robbins’ foundation also does is inspire, educate and train those who are deprived financially and emotionally in the society.

Writing inspirational books is his other way of helping other people. In fact, he has created book and audio programs titled Awaken the Giant Within, which motivates readers and listeners in controlling their physical, financial and emotional health; and Unlimited Power, which aims to make people trust in themselves in overcoming fears.

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Apart from engaging in film and martial arts, Jet Li began getting involved in the Red Cross Society of China as its “philanthropic ambassador” in 2006. He donated 500,000 Yuan (or $62,500) of box office profits from his movie Fearless to the Red Cross psychological sunshine program that supports mental health.

In 2007, Jet Li put up his own nonprofit organization called The One Foundation, as Jet Li was moved by a near-death experience in the Maldives during a tsunami in 2004. The foundation promotes global disaster relief programs in partnership with the Red Cross, and other causes like suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Ever since the establishment of the organization, Jet has contributed to recovery efforts in various calamities, one of which was during the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.

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Apart from being a popular comedian and an opinionated liberal who has her own mind, Rosie O’Donnell has earned a reputation in charitable philanthropy for her work with children. As a mother of three adopted children, she would attribute her persistent advocacy to children’s welfare to her difficult childhood, having lost both parents to cancer at an early age.

In 1996, she used $3 million of the advance for her memoir Find Me to fund the establishment of the For All Kids Foundation, a public charity. She also became vocal in calling for instituting national standards for day care in the US. Since 1997, O’Donnell’s For All Kids Foundation has awarded more than $22 million in Early Childhood Care and Education program grants to over 1,400 child-related nonprofit organizations.

Rosie O’Donnell’s creativity and penchant for comedy has boosted her charitable work. She has often found a way to cultivate philanthropy out of her detractors. Her partnership with Listerine where the company donated $1,000 to charity for every kiss to O’Donnell was a way to counter her designation by a rival company as “unkissable.” She was able to raise more than $350,000.

Personal donations by O’Donnell have also supported various causes. In 2006, she donated $50 million in an irrevocable trust to charity as well as for the rehabilitation of war veterans whose limbs were ravaged by the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

In 2003, she helped establish Rosie’s Broadway Kids, a foundation which provides free instruction in music and dance to public schools and students. It has served more than 22 schools and more than 5,100 students, teachers and their family members. All of the net profits from her 2007 book Celebrity Detox were donated to the foundation, helping the foundation build the Maravel Center, a state-of-the-art school for performing arts.

In 2007, O’Donnell collaborated with various artists on the True Colors Tour, a cause-oriented concert to benefit the Human Rights Campaign, P-Flag and the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

For her exemplary work with children, the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children recognized O’Donnell in 2006.

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Ashley Judd has spent most of her time among the ill and sexually exploited in Third World countries since becoming a global ambassador for YouthAIDS. This foundation is a prevention program under the Population Service International, where Ashley Judd has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2004. Being the humanitarian that she is, Judd has traveled to Cambodia, Kenya, Rwanda, and many more places affected by illnesses and poverty.

During her travels, she has witnessed the life of the poor and uneducated, and has since then become an advocate for preventing poverty and promoting awareness among the world. In her efforts, she has met political and religious leaders, heads of states, diplomats, and leaders to lend her voice to the deprived, and to convey the message to those who have the power to bring about political and social change.

The YouthAIDS three award-winning documentaries have starred Ashley Judd as the subject, which aired throughout the world, in channels such as the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and VH1. Through her work with the organization, she has come across the need for a balanced and integrated approach to empower human rights and global health, and to prevent social atrocities. Judd has also been involved with organizations such as the Women for Women International, and Equality Now, as well as other non-government organizations that bring attention to social, educational, health, economic, cultural, and financial funding of the unfortunate.

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After retirement, < ahref='http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,624659,00.html">Jordan has been active in business and humanitarian work, having made various contributions to charity to support children, family issues and disaster relief. He has auctioned off some of his basketball equipment and memorabilia for charity and holds the Michael Jordan Golf Invitational to raise funds.

• In 1994, Jordan founded the James R. Jordan Boys and Girls Club and Family Life Center in the memory of his father. Located in Chicago, Illinois, Jordan gave $2 million to construct the sprawling facility that houses a computer center, science lab, healthcare, clinic, gym, day care center and more. The Center caters to more than 1,000 children and families each week.

• He collaborated with Nike-subsidiary Jordan Brand to make a donation of $500,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana’s Slidell Unit to help finance the construction of a new athletic gymnasium that the kids of the Boys and Girls Club will use for their activities and community events.

• In 2006, he donated $450,000 to Habitat for Humanity to aid rebuilding efforts in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Through Hoops for Homes, a program created to benefit the relief operations, several pairs of Michael Jordan autographed Air Jordan shoes were auctioned off to raise additional funds. The auction money helped rebuilt the homes ravaged by the hurricane in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.

• Jordan also supports education initiatives. Parts of the proceeds from his auctions go to Jordan Fundamentals, an education program which grants $1 million annually for teachers. In 2006, he and his then-wife Juanita made a $5 million donation to Chicago’s Hales Franciscan High School.

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His generous pursuits began when he founded Landmark Communications (currently known as Landmark Media Enterprises) of which he was the chairman and CEO for a number of years.

Frank Batten Sr.’s experience as a media and entertainment mogul covers newspapers, radio stations, televisions, and even a new cable station that became a household name (The Weather Channel). Other affiliations include the distinguished Associate Press for which he served as chairman from 1982-1987. He graduated from the Culver Military Academy in 1945, earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Virginia in 1950, and attended Harvard University for his master’s degree in business administration in 1952.

At present, The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Frank Batten Sr. as 23rd in The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2008. With a total commitment of $93 million in 2008, he earned the reputation of being one of the devoted leaders in education philanthropy.

• Frank Batten Sr.’s 2008 biggest beneficiary is Culver Academies, a private secondary school whose main thrusts are personal responsibility, leadership, teamwork and accountability. An emeritus member in the Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, he has been a consistent financial pillar in his 24 years of being part of the committee. In 1984, he became Culver’s 17th Man of the Year.

• The Batten Fellows Program, established with his $20 million donation, aims to provide the faculty with opportunities for professional development as well as merit-matched salaries. The second part of Frank Batten Sr.’s commitment is The Batten Leadership Challenge, in which he will match the amount the fundraisers are able to pull in for as much as $50 million. This grant program will run until January 31, 2010.

• Hollins’ Batten Leadership Institute is also running on a $2 million gift from Frank Batten Sr. and his wife.

• Slover Library Foundation I Norfolk, Virginia received an endowment of $20 million for the city’s 2012-targeted $50 million library project in honor of Mr. Batten’s uncle, Col. Samuel L. Slover.

• In championing higher education, Frank Batten Sr. gave $100 million to create the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy in the University of Virginia, $60 million to Darden Graduate School of Business in Virginia, and $32 million to Harvard Business School.

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George Clooney is one of those actors who use their considerable star status to enhance the profile of a cause. In July of 2005, he was part of the “Live 8” event that called attention to eliminating poverty through free concerts taking place in different parts of the world.

Clooney is also a huge supporter and member of the ONE Campaign, alongside entertainers such as Bono, Al Pacino, Salma Hayek, Tom Hanks and many more. The campaign aims to increase government funding for humanitarian aid, specifically to fight poverty and AIDS in Africa.

His biggest charity effort is his active cooperation in the Save Darfur Coalition, which is an advocacy group that calls attention to the Darfur Conflict in Eastern Africa. The group has built a worldwide movement and has gained a heavy level of concern from the public.

George Clooney traveled to Darfur in 2006 with his journalist father, Nick Clooney, and filmed a documentary, A Journey to Darfur. In 2008 it was released in DVD format with proceeds going to the International Rescue Committee.

Another one of his many charitable efforts is his involvement in the “Not On Our Watch” campaign, which creates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for the deprived, vulnerable and displaced.

Time Magazine has named George Clooney as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World after seeing how he “uses star power to illuminate the crisis in Darfur.” The UN has also named the actor a “Messenger of Peace” in January 2008.

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After garnering prestigious awards in music and theatre, she ventured in moviemaking, setting up her own production company, Barwood Films in 1972. The company’s first movie, Up The Sandbox, highlighted the growing women’s movement and jumpstarted Barbara Streisand’s career not only as a serious moviemaker but an advocate of political activism. She later produced more movies that dealt with various political issues of personal significance to her.

The Rodney King riots impressed upon Streisand deeply, strengthening her conviction to do her part in addressing the problem of violence among youth in under-served communities across America. Acting on her personal belief that this violence is an unfortunate but understandable reaction to economic hardships and social injustice, she established the Streisand Foundation in 1993 initially to help disadvantage youth.

Since then, the scope of the Streisand Foundation’s advocacy has broadened. It has contributed over $16 million dollars to national nonprofit organizations advocating women’s issues, civil rights, race relations, civil liberties, gay rights, voter education, nuclear disarmament, gun control, poverty, and AIDS.

A long-time advocate of women’s health, Streisand donated $5 million dollars to the Cedars-Sinai Women Center in support of women’s cardiovascular research.

Barbara Streisand is also sympathetic to environmental causes. In support of the global climatic change initiatives of former US President Bill Clinton, she donated $1 million dollars to the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation.

In recognition of her contributions to philanthropic work, ABC News proclaimed her as the third most generous celebrity among the biggest philanthropists convened by the Giving Back Fund. She was also inducted as an Honoree of the Kennedy Center.

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As a rock star, his music with U2 has earned him legions of devoted fans across the world. Right from his early months with U2, Bono refined a reputation for being able to connect with fans on several levels during the band’s performances. Bono is also humanitarian and crusader for the world’s poor. Bono’s rare ability to effectively straddle the spheres of both entertainment and politics remains rivaled by few in the realm of popular culture.

Bono is the co-founder of organizations such as DATA and the ONE Campaign. In early 2005, Bono, his wife Ali Hewson, and New York-based Irish fashion designer Rogan Gregory launched the socially conscious line EDUN in an attempt to shift the focus in Africa from aid to trade.

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At an early age, Paul displayed an early interest in the theater. At the age of seven, he made his acting debut, playing the court jester in a school production of Robin Hood. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he completed his degree at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio; graduating in 1949. Later he studied Drama at Yale University, graduating in 1954.

Within the years of his acting career, Paul became interested in his activities outside acting. He joined car races and was socially active in issues such as gay rights. In 1982, Newman co-founded Newman’s Own, a line of food products. The brand initially sold salad dressing but has expanded to encompass a wide range of food including lemonade, pasta sauce, popcorn, wine, and salsa. Newman also created a rule that all proceeds from the sale of Newman’s Own products, after taxes, would be donated to charity.

One of his beneficiaries is the “Hole in the Wall Gang Camp,” a residential summer camp for seriously ill children, which is situated in Ashford, Connecticut. Newman co-founded the camp in 1988. Newman’s college fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, adopted “Hole in the Wall” as their “national philanthropy” in 1995. One camp has expanded to become several “Hole in the Wall” camps in the U.S., Ireland, France and Israel. The camp serves 13,000 children every year, free of charge. In June 1999, Paul Newman gave away $250,000 to Catholic Relief Services to help refugees in Kosovo. As of early 2006, the franchise has resulted in excess of $250 million in donations.

On September 27, 2008, Paul Newman died after battling lung cancer. He lived life as a celebrity without scandal.

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Elton John has earned a reputation as a philanthropist – having used his wealth and popularity for good causes, making him in fact one of Britain’s most generous individuals.

He has been active in AIDS charities following the deaths of some of his closest friends, Ryan White and Freddie Mercury. He collaborated with various artists such as Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick to record singles for the benefit of the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Together with close friends, he has performed in outdoor concerts to generate funds for AIDS awareness. He has also auctioned some of his artwork, cars and wardrobe to increase funding for the foundations he supports.

Later, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) in the United States in 1992 and in the United Kingdom in 1993 to expand his initiatives. It has become one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations and a top grant-maker for HIV/AIDS advocacy, raising over $150 million to support significant programs in 55 countries worldwide. EJAF derives support for its work mainly through proceeds from special fundraisers, cause-related marketing projects and donations from individuals, corporations and foundations.

EJAF’s thrusts are on eradicating the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS through education and advocacy, prevention programs, political lobbying and direct services to include treatment, testing, counseling, social services, food distribution, and legal services.

Elton John has become one of the most visible and outspoken AIDS activists in the world, testifying before Senate hearings, appearing at press conferences, writing editorials, and delivering speeches before political bodies. For his passionate and steadfast commitment to AIDS awareness and prevention, Elton John was given the CARE International Humanitarian Award in 1997.

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Britney Spears launched one of the most successful and influential careers in the record industry, boasting of 32 million sold albums in the US and an estimated 83 million record sales worldwide. Britney Spears believes in giving this success back to people in need, especially children.

She started the Britney Spears Charitable Foundation, Promises Foundation and became part of The Giving Back Fund’s family of charities. She believes that children can make their dreams come true while they are young. She donated profits from her Dream Within a Dream tour to fund the construction of a performing arts summer camp for underprivileged kids in Massachusetts. From those proceeds, she also donated $1.00 for every ticket sold to help children of the New York police officers and firefighters killed during the rescue of the victims of 9/11.

Britney Spears has become a spokesperson for efforts that help create awareness for funding organizations that help seriously sick children. One of these organizations is the Starlight Children’s Foundation, a group that provides funding for in-hospital and outpatient services. She gives her time by visiting many sick children who are battling serious illnesses like cancer.

She also donates personal items to various auctions like the NASCAR Driver Auction and a $50,000 donation to Gilda’s Club Worldwide, a cancer support network throughout North America.

Britney finds fulfillment in helping others and believes that by giving back to her fans, and to the communities, she will give meaning not only to her own life, but to others as well.

Britney Jean Spears was raised in Kentwood, Louisiana and is listed by the Guinness World Records as having the “Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist” for the album Baby One More Time; her debut album that sold over thirteen million copies in the United States alone.

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With her equally high-profile partner Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie donated more than $8.5 million to their Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2006 alone. Among the recipient charitable organizations are Global AIDS Alliance, Doctors Without Borders, the Daniel Pearl Foundation, Namibia Red Cross Action Program, the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation and Global Green USA. It also supports victims of the Iraq war, particularly the children affected. Other programs work toward providing relief for Darfur refugees. In 2008 the Jolie-Pitt Foundation was given all the proceeds of the $14 million-worth exclusive photos of the couple’s newborn twins. People magazine and British Hello! Magazine paid for these snapshots of Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Léon, born July 12 that year.

Also in 2008, the couple worked with Global Health Committee. The non-profit group received the gift of $2 million for the construction of a center for AIDS and tuberculosis-afflicted children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In honor of their generous donation, the clinic will be named after Zahara, who Jolie adopted from Ethiopia.

Angelina Jolie became a committed humanitarian advocate in 2000 when her filming of Tomb Raider took her to Cambodia and opened her eyes to its harsh realities. With the realization that the situation in the country was a mere echo of so many other afflicted communities, she decided to be the change herself.

Since her appointment in 2001, Angelina Jolie has been a devoted United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Goodwill Ambassador. By 2003, Angelina Jolie became the first recipient of the United Nations Correspondents Association’s Citizen of the World Award. Two years after, UNA-USA also recognized her humanitarian work with the Global Humanitarian Award. In the same year, she established the National Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Children. The year 2005 also saw Angelina Jolie awarded with Cambodian citizenship for her dedication to the Asian country’s betterment. In 2007, the Freedom Award was duly given to her by the International Rescue Committee.

Angelina Jolie has also taken her advocacy to the political level by becoming a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in 2007. Everyday life for her entails a balance between her acting career, philanthropic efforts, and her role as mother to her three adopted children (Maddox, Pax, Zahara) and three fathered by Brad Pitt (Shiloh, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline).

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After serving as the first National Association of Theatre Owners’ chairman of the board, Sumner Redstone continues to be actively involved in the association as a director. A particular long-term affiliation is with National Amusements Inc., for which he was President (1967-1999), and CEO (since 1967). Since 1986, the company has been the majority stockholder of Redstone’s Viacom Incorporated (NYSE: VIA) and CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS). For Viacom, he acted as chairman of the board (since 1986) and CEO (1996-2005). Following the creation of two separate entities, separating CBS from Viacom, he became Viacom Inc.’s executive chairman of the board of directors on January 1, 2006.

Most of Sumner Redstone’s philanthropic initiatives function through the Michael Redstone Charitable Trusts and the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation. In his many commitments, he currently sits as a member of the Board for the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and his Sumner M. Redstone Child Rescue Center.

He recounts one personally memorable encounter, where he met scoliosis victim Lyda. She moved him to contribute $500,000 to a group that made critical health care and educational services available to the children of Phnom Penh – The Cambodian Children’s Fund.

Another considerable and generous donation is Sumner Redstone’s charitable grants that total at an estimated $105 million. The amount is to be evenly distributed and regularly paid out to three prominent healthcare institutions over the course of five years. All the identified beneficiaries are to use the funds for medical discovery and clinical research development.

The Washington-based Faster Cures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, tied to the Milken Institute, will expand The Research Acceleration and Innovation Network (TRAIN) to include other non-profit disease research groups and renamed as The Redstone Acceleration and Innovation Network. Other programs include FasterCures Philanthropy Advisory Service and Patients Helping Doctors program. The second $35 million recipient is top non-university hospital Cedars-Sinai Prostate Cancer Center that will be able to pursue a six-year National Prostate Cancer Study. Lastly, the Massachusetts General Hospital, already with its Sumner M. Redstone Burn Center since 1974, will be able to establish the Sumner M. Redstone Burn and Trauma Service, as well as The Sumner M. Redstone Emergency Department.

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A trustee of the National Committee of the Whitney Museum, the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art, and the Council of American Ambassadors, Anne Cox Chambers’ life is one of those significantly influencing the global community. On top of these influential roles, she is also the distinguished president of the American Friends of the International Lyric Art Festival of Aix-en-Provence. Likewise, she is a board member of the French American Foundation, Woodruff Arts Center and the MacDowell Colony.

The billionaire media proprietor has also served on select boards for corporations such as Coca Cola (1981-1991), Bank of the South (1977-1982), and the Fulton National Bank (since 1973). Her appointment at Fulton is historic, for she was the first woman in Atlanta to fulfill such a capacity. Other not-for-profit organizations that Anne Cox Chambers was actively involved in were as a director for Central Atlanta Progress Board and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. She is the first woman to hold such positions of power.

Anne Cox Chambers also played a key role in President Jimmy Carter’s administration when she was chosen to be the Ambassador to Belgium from 1977-1981. For her invaluable service, the King Baudoin of Belgium presented her the Officier de la Legion d’Honneur, l’Order de la Couronne.

Other political affiliations revolve around her stalwart support for the Democratic Party. She is a member of New Leadership for America PAC, MoveOn.org, John Kerry for President, Bill Bradley for President, and the most recent endeavour and success, Obama for America.

Born on December 1, 1919 to James M. Cox and Barbara Cox Anthony, she had James M. Cox Jr., John W. Cox, and Barbara Cox Anthony as siblings. She attended Miss Porter’s School for her secondary education, and went to New York’s Finch College afterward. Currently, Anne Cox Chambers is a Director of Cox Enterprises. As the last surviving inheritor of her father James M. Cox’s media conglomerate, she has a net worth estimated at $9 billion as of March 2009. In 2008, she was ranked 19th in the Forbes 400 Richest Americans.

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Chuck Norris extends his time and energy to works for charities like Funds for Kids, Veteran’s Administration National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, the United Way, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, contributing in the form of donations and fundraising activities.

Being a former member of the United States Air Force stationed in Korea, he served as a spokesperson for the U.S. Veterans Administration in order to popularize the issues that concern hospitalized war veterans such as pensions and health care. In fact, for his patriotism and significant contributions to this cause, he received the “Veteran of the Year” award at the American Veteran Awards in 2001.

Perhaps his most notable philanthropic contribution is his work to develop self-esteem and focus among young people to keep them away from drug-related pressure by way of martial arts training. He established the United Fighting Arts Federation and “KickStart” (formerly “Kick Drugs Out of America”) in 1990. KickStart helps at-risk children shift their focus to martial arts through programs directed towards the middle school and high school population.

In 2005, Chuck Norris founded the World Combat League (WCL), a full contact, team-based martial arts competition, to which a portion of the proceeds from the World Combat League go to Norris’ charity KickStart.

As a world-acclaimed martial artist, Chuck Norris is the owner of a number of martial arts champion titles, like the Professional World Middleweight Champion title that he held for six years (1968 – 1974). He is also the proud owner of the 1969 Triple Crown, a recognition he received for having the most tournament wins.

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J.K. Rowling was born on July 30, 1965, in Gloucestershire, England. She attended the University of Exeter and received her BA in French and Classics upon graduating. After a year of studying in Paris, Rowling moved to London to work at the Amnesty International as a secretary and researcher.

Rowling was named the first person to become a billionaire by writing books, according to the Forbes Magazine. She was also named the 2nd richest female entertainer behind Oprah Winfrey.

In November 2002, J.K. Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, an organization aimed at fighting poverty social inequality. According to their website, they have two broad areas of funding:

• Research into the causes and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. The Trust is currently committed to funding several long-term research projects of this type and is not considering further applications for funding in this area at the present time.

• Charities and projects, whether community-based or on a national level, at home or abroad, that tackle social deprivation, with a focus on women’s and children’s issues.

Rowling is also president of the One Parent Families, a non-profit group that supports lone parent families. In September 2008, she gave a whopping 1 million in pounds to the Labour Party of UK. She is a fundraiser of Comic Relief, an anti-poverty non-partisan organization that prevents famine and poverty in developing countries.

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Christopher Reeve caught the eye of producers after he graduated from Juilliard in 1974. He was offered many acting gigs on Broadway and eventually auditioned for the role of Clark Kent in Superman. And the rest is history.

In 1995, he fell off a horse that caused a cervical spinal injury that paralyzed him from the neck down. After going through treatments and surgeries, Christopher Reeve traveled to Israel and met many patients with the same illness. He was very inspired that he became vice chairman of the National Organization on Disability and chairman of the American Paralysis Association. Christopher Reeve emerged as an activist for embryonic stem cell research.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation is one of the leading bastions in the field of spinal cord research. The foundation aims to find treatments for people suffering from spinal cord paralysis and other disabilities, specifically neurological disorders. One of its missions is to help people with disabilities enjoy life.

The foundation was initially known as American Paralysis Foundation (APF). But since Christopher Reeve’s passion, creativity, and brilliance contributed to the success of spinal cord research, APF eventually became the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, and then later on, the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

In 2006 alone, the foundation awarded over $64 million in research grants. Over $8 million quality-of-life grants were given away.

In 2004, Christopher Reeve died of a heart failure at the age of 52. His wife, Dana Reeve, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005 and died the following year at the age of 44. In their honor, the foundation was renamed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

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• Through her Angel Network, Oprah Winfrey has raised $50 million for Third World schools, $10 million for Katrina relief and $1 million for tsunami aid. Because Winfrey personally covers the administrative costs, 100% of funds raised for the Angel Network goes to charity programs.
• Winfrey also initiated a campaign for a national database for convicted child abusers. This campaign was motivated by her experiences of child abuse.

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• Turner established the United Nations Foundation with a $1 billion pledge to benefit the United Nations. The goal is to promote world peace, prosperity, and justice.
• Ted Turner also chairs the Turner Foundation. This organization’s commitment is to prevent damage to natural systems necessary for life. Also serving on the board of trustees are his five children.
• Nuclear Threat Initiative was co-founded by Ted Turner and Sam Nunn. The organization’s mission is to reduce global threats from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

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Until Steven Spielberg released Schindler’s List in 1993, nobody truly reckoned him to be anyone other than a director who made movies with amazing special effects. The success of Schindler’s List put rest to the notion that Steven Spielberg was not a “serious director,” winning him his first Oscar for Best Director. The film itself was honored as the year’s Best Picture. Schindler’s List created a stirring and unforgettable portrait of the Holocaust.

Exploring the Holocaust was not just a one-shot project for Steven Spielberg, however. A year after making Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg funded the Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.

Patterned after Yale University’s Fortunoff Video Archive, the Shoah Foundation gathers the testimonies, experiences, and eyewitness accounts of those who survived the Holocaust. Among those interviewed were Jews, political prisoners, rescuers, liberators, homosexuals, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and participants in war crime trials.

These testimonies are compiled in the foundation’s massive Visual History Archive, a 200-terabyte software medium from which one can retrieve the footages. Housed at the University of Southern California, the Visual History Archive contains over 50,000 testimonies culled from over fifty countries and spoken in thirty-two languages, making it the largest of its kind in the world. The foundation has also produced movie documentaries to educate school children about the heartrending event.

The Shoah Foundation Institute has broadened its scope to encompass the horrors of other crimes against humanity, such as the genocides in Cambodia and Rwanda. In its own way, the archive has chronicled the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit in the face of evil.

Spielberg used his profits from Schindler’s List to establish the Righteous Persons Foundation in 1994. The foundation has awarded hundreds of grants in the fields of education, arts, culture, spirituality, Holocaust awareness, tolerance, interfaith relations, and synagogue life.

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Dr. Laura has a BS in Biological Sciences and a Ph.D. in physiology from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Laura Schlessinger achieved a post-doctoral certification in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling from the University of Southern California. She has 12 years experience running her own psycho therapy private practice. In addition, Dr. Laura has served on the faculty of the Department of Biology at the University of Southern California and on the Graduate Psychology Department at Pepperdine University.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is the recipient of numerous awards and the first woman to win the National Association of Broadcasters’ prestigious Marconi Award for Network/Syndicated Personality. She has authored more than a dozen best selling books in self-help and children’s picture books. In an effort to give back to society, Dr. Laura has donated money and sponsored fund-raising events that have contributed substantially to the betterment of children’s causes.

• Through her national platform and the generosity of CASA volunteers, Dr. Laura raised over $530,000 for Operation Family Fund, a not-for-profit philanthropy that supports foster children and the families of soldiers injured or killed in Iraq or Afghanistan as a result of the War on Terror.
• Dr. Laura’s efforts to support Operation Family Fund include the jewelry she hand-crafted and designed to for Dr. Laura’s Necklace Collection and Birthday Benefit Party fund-raising event. Dr. Laura has raised over $1,000,000 to date and recently raised $22,000 during her Ocean Cruise and Online Jewelry sale, benefiting Operation Family Fund.
• Thanks to contributions and its dedicated volunteers, Operation Family Fund as grown to a staff of more than 50,000 volunteers serving 225,000 children in more than 900 local program offices nationwide.
• Dr Laura has also contributed to the Santa Maria Public Library.

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Cheryl Saban is the Chairman of the Saban Family Foundation that has greatly contributed to various charities.

• Cheryl Saban created a website named www.50ways.org, which was then expanded into a book ‘50 Ways to Save Our Children” in 2000. The website advocates community service and includes a listing of major children’s charity programs from which interested donors may choose. The site also provides professional advice and articles on issues relating to children, women and families.
• Cheryl Saban is a part of the EveryChild Foundation, which is a woman’s charity network that solicits members to make a single yearly contribution to a children’s charity.
• In 2003, the Saban Family Foundation donated $40 million to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; $13 million to Brookings Institution for building the Saban Center for Middle East Policy for the promotion of successful American policies in the Middle East; $10 million to the Motion Picture & Television Fund Country House & Hospital; $5.2 million to Friends of Israel Disabled Veterans in Be’er Sheva, Israel; and $5 million to Soroka University Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, Israel for the establishment of its new Children’s Hospital.
• Cheryl Saban has been continuously organizing an outdoor party for 2,500 poor kids from Los Angeles. She sets the venue with real imported snow and has volunteers from Fox Family Entertainment come over to entertain the crowd. Each child goes home with a bag packed with toys and other goodies.

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Kluge’s success began with his purchase of Metropolitan Broadcasting Company’s stocks. He eventually became its biggest stockholder. He was elected chairman in 1958. He started diversifying the business by investing in advertising and broadening the business to include broadcasting activities. He eventually sold the company to 20th Century Fox. After the release he continued to pursue his media business through a private venture called Metromedia Company, which has served countries from the former Soviet States and China.

• In celebration of the Library of Congress’ 200th anniversary, Kluge donated $60 million to the institution. This gift resulted in the creation of the John W. Kluge Center, which grants accomplished scholars and post-doctoral fellows access to the library’s immense collection, as well as interaction with members of the United States Congress.
• In 2007, John Kluge donated $400 million to Columbia University’s financial aid program. John Kluge also donated around $110 million between 1987 and 1993 to Columbia University. Kluge made this donation to scholarship and grant funds to aid deserving but underprivileged students at Columbia.
• John Kluge donated 7,378 acres (30 km²) of additional lands, worth $45 million to the University of Virginia to the University.

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Philanthropic Works of Sidney Kimmel

• In 1993, Sidney Kimmel founded the Sidney Kimmel Foundation. The foundation’s Cancer Research division has committed $120 million to institutions serving healthcare, education, arts and culture.
• In 2001, the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research donated $150 million to John Hopkins University, which is the largest single gift ever received by the University. The donation was directed toward the development of a residence for cancer patients undergoing extended treatment. It is now named the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• Sidney Kimmel is the major donor to The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, home to the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra. His contributions amount to $35 million.
• Sidney Kimmel’s other donations include $5 million to The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia; $20 million to Raymond and Ruth Perelman Jewish Day School in Philadelphia; $25 million for the establishment of a new prostate and urological cancer center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York; and $25 million to The National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.

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Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on June 9, 1961, Michael J. Fox moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue his acting career. His father, William, was a member of the Canadian Forces while his mother, Phyllis, was a payroll clerk and actress.

Throughout his television and film career, Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) to help find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. The foundation relies on an aggressively funded research agenda. One of the top things in Michael J. Fox and his team’s agenda list is embryonic stem cell research or studies.

On the neurological fronts, the MJFF has been quite progressive in their search for a cure. Scientists are getting to closer to fully understanding the brain and how Parkinson’s disease affects it. For his part, Michael J. Fox focuses his energies on the foundation and its efforts to raise awareness and funding. Since its inception in 2000, the MJFF has given away funds amounting to almost $140 million.

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Bill Cosby rose to stardom via the adventure show I Spy, and the television shows The Bill Cosby Show and The Electric Company. However, it was his role as Cliff Huxtable in the television series The Cosby Show that made him a household name.

Now an established star, Bill Cosby is an active philanthropist. One of his largest gifts was a $20 million grant to Spellman College, the largest gift ever granted to any of America’s traditionally black colleges. The gift was used to establish the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center, along with three chairs in the fine arts, social sciences and humanities. The money was also used for a library and archival program of international African women research and resources at the Academic Center.

In 1997, Bill Cosby’s son, Ennis William, was shot to death along Los Angeles’ Interstate 405 as he was changing a flat tire. This led Bill Cosby and his wife, Camille, to establish the Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation. The foundation focused on creating equal rights for people with dyslexia and other language-based learning difficulties.

Bill Cosby continues to reach out to others by giving lectures to black communities, particularly those with problems related to illegal drugs, education, and teenage pregnancy. Bill Cosby is also raising funds for US Slavery Museum in Virginia.

Bill Cosby received the 2003 Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.

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