Tuc Watkins Wins Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament

 

Tuc Watkins (Photo: ABC/Yolanda Perez)

 

One Life To Live and Desperate Housewives star, Tuc Watkins, can now add poker champion to his resume. He participated in a Celebrity Poker Tournament over the weekend.  Children’s Institute, Inc., held its “First Annual Celebrity Poker Tournament” at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Hosted by Emmy and Golden Globe winner Camryn Manheim (Ghost Whisperer). The fundraiser was to benefit children who have been affected by violence in their homes or communities. More than 20 celebrities supported the tournament including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jamie Kennedy, Kevin Nealon, Joely Fisher, Mekhi Phifer, Cheri Oteri, Mimi Rogers, Allison Sweeney, Jennie Garth and Nicholas Gonzalez; four made it to the final table: Cheryl Hines (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Ricki Lake, Kevin Rahm and Tuc Watkins. Kevin Rahm and Tuc Watkins, both on “Desperate Housewives”, battled it out as 2 of the final 3 players. Tuc Watkins ultimately won the grand prize.

Feed The Children: Indiana High School Girls Promote Self Esteem for Girls in Africa

(From Business Wire): The students at Wayne High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, decided it was unacceptable for girls in developing countries to miss out on an education. So they rallied together to raise more than $1,000 to send Feed The Children feminine dignity kits to girls in Africa.

Each month, girls in developing countries can miss up to five days of school because of their menstrual cycles. These girls live in absolute poverty and do not have access to the basic feminine hygiene supplies that would allow them to attend school with confidence.

Instead, they stay home, falling behind on their schoolwork. In developing nations, education for women is often a low priority. This cultural prejudice, combined with the challenge of making up schoolwork, makes impoverished girls more likely to drop out of school.

Feed The Children’s feminine dignity kits include essentials like feminine hygiene products and other personal care items (toothbrush, toothpaste, comb and more) to help them stay in school and feel good about themselves. The kits also include beautiful sarong scarves for each girl. The scarves are fun to wear and also provide cover-up in case of any accidents.

“Our deepest thanks to the students of Wayne High School for recognizing that all girls are worthy of dignity, security, and an education—and for working to make these ideals a reality,” said Larry Jones, founder and president of Feed The Children. “Education is often a girl’s best defense against poverty, sexual abuse and teen pregnancy and we appreciate Wayne High School students for doing what they can to help these girls.”

About Feed The Children

Founded in 1979 by Larry and Frances Jones, Feed The Children is consistently ranked as one of the 10 largest international charities in the U.S., based on private, non-government support. Feed The Children is a Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization with headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disasters. In FY 2008, Feed The Children distributed more than 133 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally, supplementing more than 760,000 meals each day. Since its founding, the organization has reached out to help those in need in 118 countries around the globe. For more information, please visit

www.feedthechildren.org     www.givingisgood.org     www.larryjones.tv    

www.feedthechildren.org/abandonedbabies

Coca-Cola Gives Back to the City of New Orleans and Celebrates 15th Anniversary of Essence Music Festival

A display of Coca-Cola bottles celebrating the 15th Anniversary of Essence Festival at the 2009 Essence Music Festival Photo: Wire Image

(From Business Wire)- This year, in recognition of the 15^th anniversary of the Festival, The Coca-Cola Foundation will make two donations of $15,000 each to two local nonprofit organizations to help continue the renewal of New Orleans. The first gift supports the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation’s “Save our Lake,” an effort to restore and preserve the Lake, which complements the Company’s commitments to protect and preserve the environment.

Also receiving a donation is the Second Harvest Food Bank Of Greater New Orleans and Arcadiana which became the largest food bank in world history after the devastating impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The organization delivers more than 75 million pounds of food annually to communities still in recovery from the hurricanes.

Coca Cola also introduced a 15th Anniversary Essence/Coca Cola Commerative Bottle which will be given out during the festival and for which recycling will be available.

The Essence Music Festival is the nation’s largest annual gathering of African-American musical talent; featuring an unprecedented three days of cultural celebration and performances by some of today’s greatest African-American artists, including Salt n’ Pepa, John Legend, Ne-Yo and Beyonce.

The Festival runs through the 4th of July Weekend.