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Gary Sinise, Laura Hillenbrand, Sela Ward, Tyra Banks
Tools for LearningTwo goodwill trips to Iraq in 2003 led Gary Sinise, star of "CSI: NY," to start Operation Iraqi Children. "It was a tremendous feeling to see these children hugging and kissing our soldiers," says Sinise. When he returned home, he and his friend Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit, formed the charity, which puts together school-supply kits for Iraqi children. So far, the organization has sent about 100,000 kits, shipped for free via FedEx. "Every time a box of supplies is delivered by our troops, it will be another small victory in helping to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis," says Sinise.
A Home of Their Own
In 2001, when actress Sela Ward learned there was no place in her home state of Mississippi for foster children who hadn't found permanent homes, she formed the Hope Village Foundation. She purchased an old orphanage on 30 acres in Meridian and turned it into Hope Village for Children, which houses up to 32 children, from newborns to teenagers, in three cottages. The children can stay until they turn 18, with siblings kept together. Ward spends a month in Meridian each summer, and visits the Village throughout the year.
Stronger Lives
One of the most beautiful women in the world, supermodel Tyra Banks gets letters all the time from her teenage fans. Not all of them are upbeat. Some, she says, "show disturbing patterns of self-doubt, bad body image and peer pressures -- feelings I experienced as a young woman." In 1999, Banks launched the TZONE project, a weeklong camp in Los Angeles for girls ages 13-15 focusing on such topics as confidence, relationships, and diversity, followed up by quarterly weekend summits and community service projects throughout the year. So far there have been 262 "graduates." Banks, TZONE's primary funder, hopes to get corporate and private support so she can expand the program to other cities.
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