SEATTLE — The media often covers stories on the latest Hollywood scandals or awkward encounters and rarely covers celebrity couples who give back. The truth is, most people probably don’t know the last time so-and-so donated to an organization for the poor or visited and explored a third world country.
Many celebrities make it a priority to reach out to others in need and use their platform for the advancement of charitable causes.
1. Emma Stone & Andrew Garfield
When they’re not fighting crime as Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker, The Amazing Spiderman duo is fighting for various organizations and using their celebrity status to raise awareness of charitable causes. Whilst stepping out for breakfast in New York, the two carried cardboard signs that read, “We were eating and saw a group of guys with cameras outside. We don’t need the attention, but these wonderful organizations do” with links to The Youth Mentoring Connection, a nonprofit that provides worksite and community mentoring for teens, and Autism Speaks, which sponsors autism research, awareness and outreach.
The two stars are also advocates for Gilda’s Club, a cancer support organization, and Worldwide Orphans Foundation, which provides healthcare and education to orphaned children.
2. Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
Referred to as one of the most generous couples in Hollywood, Jolie & Pitt donate millions of dollars to humanitarian causes each year. Together they formed the Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2006, which focuses on eradicating extreme rural poverty and funding clinics and schools in places like Ethiopia, Kenya, Afghanistan and Cambodia. Just as notable, they donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders, an international medical organization that provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care or natural disasters.
3. Beyonce & Jay-Z
This past year, the musical pair headlined Tidal X 10/20, the streaming service’s charity concert. Proceeds from the event went toward the New World Foundation, which benefits various nonprofit organizations and grassroots movements dedicated to improving communities and fighting social injustices. The organization’s initial funding of about $20 million was noted for progress towards education, ethics, peace and public health.
4. Will & Jada Pinkett Smith
The Smiths donate a percentage of their income to important causes around the world, including Feeding America, LiveStrong, the Florida Marlins Community Foundation, the Red Cross and AIDS efforts in South Africa. Over the course of just a couple years, the Smiths raised over $789,000 for the nonprofit Water and helped install a clean well for 400 people in the Maego village, Tigray.
5. David & Victoria Beckham
Over the past 10 years, David Beckham has played a crucial role in UNICEF’s work to save and improve the lives of children and has repeatedly traveled to third world countries in crisis. Specifically, he has focused on UNICEF’s Unite Against AIDS Campaign. The Beckhams are founding members of Malaria No More in the U.K., which helps raise funds for kids afflicted with Malaria in Africa.
Even the most famous actors, actresses, singers and athletes double as philanthropists. Though they are praised for their particular profession, some of their best work takes place when the rest of the world isn’t watching. Despite their level of fame, there are numerous celebrity couples who give back and address major issues like global poverty and hunger to alleviate the suffering of the world’s poor.
– Mikaela Frigillana
Photo: Flickr