Stars go global for charity

Celebrities look outside the United States to make a difference.

By Jeffrey Ressner

There is no shortage of celebrities willing to walk a red carpet or appear in a public service announcement for a worthy cause.

But more than ever, stars are looking beyond U.S. borders to do good. Call it celebrity globalization. Or "the Angelina bump" -- and we don't mean the pregnancy kind.

Whether it's because shooting on location takes them to foreign cities, exotic lands have more cachet or they want to be seen as citizens of the world, celebrities are stepping up their overseas charity efforts. "The world is a smaller place for everyone, especially for celebrities who travel and do a lot of their work abroad," says Alan J. Abramson, an expert on philanthropy issues.

Actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Tea Leoni, whose grandmother helped create the organization, says that stars who have made movies in developing nations often "have seen things firsthand that made an impact on their lives," leading them to "use their celebrity" to try to make a difference and "educate other Americans."

Among the more high-profile are Angelina Jolie's work with refugees in Africa, George Clooney and Don Cheadle's awareness-raising efforts in Darfur and Bono's drive to abolish Third World debt. And both Oprah Winfrey and Madonna are funding all-girls schools in Africa.

But the list hardly stops there. Country-folk singer Jewel contributes to clean water well projects in Latin America and elsewhere, actress and producer Salma Hayek speaks out for a vaccine program in association with Pampers and UNICEF, and Sting supports tribes living in the rain forest.

Why look outside the USA for charitable works when so much help is needed back home?

"I'm globally minded, and I always have been," says Jewel, who has funded several clean water projects in such places as Tibet and Tanzania and a well for the Masai tribe in Africa's Serengeti plains.

Plus, a little can go a long way in a developing country, she says. Some projects costing as little as $5,000 can save dozens of lives and rescue entire communities.

Not to say there aren't plenty of celebs lending their names and more to causes closer to home, from Brad Pitt's pledges of housing help for the struggling survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans to Winfrey's own Angel Network benefiting, among others, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Jewel, too, has contributed to a Native American water project on a reservation in the Southwest.

"I certainly worry about our health and education programs here, and I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more people invest in the United States," she says. "But Africa is a very poor and very large country. In terms of people who require that wells be dug, people who have had absolutely no access to clean water -- the need simply hasn't been that great in America."