Oakland Zoo to auction paintings by its animals

SAN FRANCISCO — Elephants, giraffes, lemurs, and even a cockroach at the Oakland Zoo in California have been exploring their creative sides to produce colorful paintings that will be auctioned for charity.

The painting sessions were conducted by zookeepers who used only positive reinforcement, including plenty of treats, as they worked with the animals, zoo spokeswoman Nicky Mora said.

Elephants were helped to hold paintbrushes in their trunks and giraffes in their mouths and produce their artwork one stroke at a time. Goats, lemurs, and meerkats had their hooves, paws or claws dabbed with nontoxic, water-based paint and ran over a blank sheet of poster board while chasing a treat.

Thirty-two of the works will be auctioned on eBay starting Thursday.

Andy, a Madagascar hissing cockroach, scurried around a canvas and the result was a piece in purple, green and yellow tones.

Maggie, a Nigerian dwarf goat, had her hooves dipped in blue, green and yellow paint and the keeper coaxed her with snacks to walk on a canvas.

"It was fun for them because they got treats for participating," Mora said.

None of the animals was forced to take part, she said.

Last year, Oakland Zoo auctioned off twelve paintings and raised nearly $10,000.

The bidding this year will end Sept. 20 and the funds raised will benefit Oakland Zoo's conservation partners, who are working in the field to save wild animals, Mora said.

source: philstar.com

Lea Salonga takes Ice Bucket Challenge, calls out Aga, Sarah

Responding to Urs Buhler of the operatic pop vocal group Il Divo, singer Lea Salonga posted her own Ice Bucket Challenge video on YouTube Thursday night.

Unlike several other celebrities who had accepted the challenge earlier this week, the 43-year-old Broadway star and “The Voice of the Philippines” coach opted not to put her own spin on the charity campaign that had thrust the neurodegenerative disease ALS (amyothropic lateral sclerosis) into the mainstream conversation.

Instead, Lea shared a personal reason why the challenge was more than just a bandwagon to her. Before being doused with ice-cold water by her husband Rob Chien, she confessed that an uncle of Chien’s had died of ALS “not so long ago”. 


“It is out of love for him that we’re both doing this. Well, I’ll be the one drenched, and he’ll be the one doing the drenching,” she quipped.

Before the ceremonial dousing, Lea called out dear friend and “Glee” star Darren Criss, her former and future leading man Aga Muhlach, and her fellow “The Voice” coaches Apl.de.Ap, Bamboo, and Sarah Geronimo.

source: interaksyon.com

Zuckerberg tops US donations in 2013 with $1 billion - report

WASHINGTON DC - Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was America's most generous donor in 2013, giving nearly $1 billion of his fortune to charity, according to a magazine report on Monday.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which tracks charitable giving in the United States, said Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan gave 18 million shares of Facebook stock, valued at some $992 million, to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The Mountain View, California-based foundation specializes in investment and management of charitable funds, with some $4.7 billion in assets under management.

Over the past two years, Zuckerberg and his wife, a physician, have given 36 million Facebook shares to the fund, valued at about $1.5 billion.

The couple dedicated their 2012 funds managed by the group for health and education, the Chronicle of Education wrote.

Zuckerberg, who turns 30 later this year, is the youngest benefactor ever to top the magazine's annual charitable donations list.

His net worth was estimated by Forbes magazine at $19 billion as of September, making him the 20th richest in the United States.

That figure is believed to have shot up, however, thanks to a healthy rise in the value of Facebook shares, and now is approaching $30 billion, the market intelligence firm Wealth-X estimated recently.

Last year, the Facebook mogul and his wife occupied the number two spot in charitable giving, making donations of nearly a half billion dollars in 2012.

First place went to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who gave about $3 billion to charity in 2012.

source: interaksyon.com

11 more US billionaires join Gates, Buffett charity pledge

NEW YORK - Eleven billionaires added their names Tuesday to the effort by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to donate half their fortunes to charity, bringing the total to 92.

The newest members of the club include Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, and Charles Bronfman, the Canadian-born former head of Seagram Co.

The Giving Pledge, announced in 2010, was launched by Microsoft mogul Gates and investment guru Buffett who want to convince the richest people in the country to give 50 percent or more of their fortune to charity.
The group includes CNN founder Ted Turner, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Hollywood director George Lucas, as well as Buffett and Gates.

"We've said from the beginning that this is a long-term effort, so it's exciting to see continued progress over the last two years," said Gates, who is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"This new group brings extensive business and philanthropic experience that will enrich the conversation about how to make philanthropy as impactful as possible. Their thoughtfulness and deep commitment to philanthropy are an inspiration to me, and I'm sure to many others as well."

The newest members also include Manoj Bhargava, India-born founder of 5-hour Energy; and Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans and majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Also pledging were Peter Lewis, chairman of Progressive Insurance; Jonathan Nelson, founder of Providence Equity Partners; Jorge Perez, chairman and CEO of The Related Group; Albert Lee Ueltschi, founder of FlightSafety International; and Symphony Technology Group founder Romesh Wadhwani.
New pledges also came from Claire Tow, co-founder of a major cable television company, and husband Leonard Tow, the CEO of New Century Holdings.

Lewis said in his pledge letter that he would make donations aimed at "promoting a healthy democracy, broad civic participation and public policy -- from the support of progressive think tanks to leadership training for public servants, to investigative journalism, ethics in government, and a democratic media."
He added that another effort he would fund is "taboo for most philanthropists yet exemplifies disastrous public policy... our nation's outdated, ineffective marijuana laws."

Lewis said he has already funded efforts to enact laws that give patients access to marijuana as relief for pain and nausea and has "made no secret of being one of those patients myself, using marijuana to help with pain following the amputation of my lower leg."

"A majority of Americans are ready to change marijuana laws, yet we continue to arrest our young people for engaging in an activity that is utterly commonplace," he said.

Bronfman said in his letter that philanthropy "is in the DNA of my family," adding that his parents were active participants in Jewish, local Montreal and Canadian charities.

"The dining table conversation was a place for discussing what was important to them in that world -- it is no surprise then, that each of us has contributed to society."

source: interaksyon.com