Madonna and Gucci will host an exclusive fundraising event on February 6, 2008 to celebrate the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, the New York 5th Avenue Flagship. Co-chaired by Gucci's Creative Director, Frida Giannini, this event will benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF, and will consist of dinner followed by a guest speaker, musical performance and an after party. This special evening will be dedicated to raising funds and awareness for orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Joining Madonna and Frida Giannini is a list of distinguished co-chairs, including Adrien Brody, Arpad Busson, Salma Hayek and François-Henri Pinault, Téa Leoni, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, and Sting and Trudie Styler.
Both together and individually, Gucci and Madonna share a history of commitment to the fight against AIDS, as well as support for orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS. Beginning in 1997, Madonna served as Honorary Co-chair of the record-breaking Gucci fundraising event for Aids Project Los Angeles. Ten years later, Gucci and Madonna have both responded to the global circumstances of the AIDS pandemic, pursuing interests on behalf of orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.
"I am grateful that Gucci is joining forces with me to bring attention to a country with millions of children in desperate need of our help" said Madonna. "Raising Malawi has already done tremendous work in helping these children. But we have much more to do and this event will surely bring us closer to our goal."
Since 2006, Raising Malawi has been dedicated to bringing an end to the extreme poverty and hardship endured by Malawi's one million orphans, over half of whom have been orphaned by AIDS. Co-founded by Madonna, Raising Malawi provides thousands of children with physical assistance, long-term sustainability, and psycho-social programs to address their emotional needs through several community-based projects including orphan care centers, orphanages, medical clinics, crisis nurseries, feeding programs and a soon-to-come girls' boarding school.
Gucci has been a UNICEF corporate partner since 2004, starting with a local holiday event in Los Angeles, and growing to a global campaign in over twenty countries in 2005. The Gucci campaign supports UNICEF programs in Malawi and Mozambique, where over one million children have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Gucci's support has enabled UNICEF to provide lifesaving healthcare, protection, clean water and education to orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS. "AIDS is one of the most devastating public health problems in recent history," said Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "Every day, 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS, and 1,400 children die from AIDS. We can't thank Gucci and Madonna enough for their commitment to helping UNICEF fight the battle against HIV and AIDS. By helping us raise funds, they are helping children in Africa to survive and thrive."
"We are honored to have Madonna host this very special event with us, celebrating the opening of our New York Fifth Avenue flagship store while generating funds for Raising Malawi and UNICEF," said Mark Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Gucci. "At this significant moment in Gucci's history, we are proud to continue our commitment to a cause of great importance to the company. We are inspired by the work of Raising Malawi and UNICEF - organizations that are improving life in communities devastated by HIV/AIDS, and helping thousands of children in their daily struggle to survive."
The event is being entirely underwritten by Gucci, so every dollar raised will go directly to the important work of Raising Malawi and UNICEF.
1 comment:
The charity 'Raising Malawi' (PR firm) founded by Madonna AND TWO OTHERS over three years ago held fund raisers for over two years before finally getting registered as a non-profit. In other words, Madonna and the others were free to squander the lion's share of that funding any way they saw fit for those first two years. She also pleaded with her fans worldwide for donations along the way. In the meantime, she toured the world to promote her latest CD and raked in another $280,000,000 gross in just over 12 months. To date, the basic financial info for 'Rasing Malawi' still hasn't been posted on the website or anywhere else. The 'progress' page only tells of the collective works by over 20 seperate charities. Each of which have their own sources of funding and may have recieved some sort of promotion or support from 'Raising Malawi' in order to be considered 'partners'. But no indication is made how much of their funding came from 'Raising Malawi' or how much of their progress if any could be directly attributed to 'Raising Malawi'. The fans/donors have no clue how many millions of dollars were raised in that first two years, no clue how much Madonna herself chipped in, and no clue how the money was spent before they finally registered as a non-profit. No clue what tiny little fraction of funding or works listed on that 'progress' page could be directly attributed to 'Raising Malawi'. Nothing to go on but the vague word of Madonna. The vague and very misleading word of Madonna. For example: She states in her latest promotional video that she will match any contributions made to her charity (PR firm) "dollar for dollar". However there is a disclaimer posted on the website for 'Raising Malawi' that Madonna's total contribution will not exceed $100,000. Thats not per donation. Thats a maximum of $100,000 TOTAL. Less than a single days pay for Madonna. Also much less then she will surely rake in by promoting her own CDs, DVDs, and 'for profit' merchandise through this massive worldwide publicity stunt. So I called the office of 'Raising Malawi' in an attempt to verify some sort of efficient financial operation (310) 867-2881 or (888) 72-DONOR). These details are ALWAYS made available by legitimate charities to their potential donors. But not in this case. I got nothing but recorded messages and hangups. So I did some research on my own. 'Rasing Malawi' still hasn't been given any kind of rating by ANY independent charity watchdog like Charitywatch.org. The vast overwhelming majority of 'celebrity' foundations never are. In general, they are inneficient and riddled with corruption. Like the promotion of CDs, world tours, commercial websites, entire lines of jewelry (not just the single piece from which proceeds are donated), and high end fashion retail flagship stores. Celebrity foundations are also notorious for squandering much of their funding on travel and super high end accomodations for their celebrity figure heads. Its legal even for a nonprofit but not noble or efficient by any stretch of the imagination. In general, 'celebrity' foundations are a twisted inefficient mutant of charity, self-promotion, and PR crap. They actually compete for funding with more efficient legitimate charities which do more work with less money. Its a sham. So if its not rated, then don't support it. Instead, support a top rated charity like any of those given high ratings at Charitywatch.org.
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