Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore traipsed purposefully up the Capitol steps last month in a simple black dress, red-soled black pumps and russet mane, not for a film shoot but to lobby for child feeding programs in Africa as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. World Food Program.
Barrymore, 32, then took her extracurricular celebrity campaign to the airwaves at CNN with anchor Wolf Blitzer. She described children in Kenya telling her all they needed was one meal a day, pencils and paper. "It is life-altering, and it has humbled me to the core," she confided in a slow undertone.
"It struck a chord with me," said Michael Adams, 57, a guidance counselor at J. Albert Adams Academy, a middle school in Annapolis. He went online to research the World Food Program and called its Washington office to pledge $100.
"When I feel something is authentic, I respond," he said. "I could see the passion in her expression. Next, I am planning school-based lessons on world hunger and altruism and maybe a fundraiser."
Within a week, $10 donations snowballed into $25,000, according to Jennifer Parmelee, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program.
Barrymore is just one of many in a growing army of entertainment figures joining humanitarian crusades. Actors Meg Ryan and Salma Hayek and musician Sheryl Crow are among those who are using their star power to turn the spotlight on neglected global issues and to raise badly needed cash even at a time of donor fatigue.
Though celebrities have long attached their names to various causes -- the late Audrey Hepburn represented UNICEF, and Brigitte Bardot advocates for animal rights -- the links between Hollywood and philanthropy are stronger than ever. Stars now generate hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, sensitize the public and engage people attracted by popular culture with the serious foreign policy issues of the day.
Barrymore, 32, then took her extracurricular celebrity campaign to the airwaves at CNN with anchor Wolf Blitzer. She described children in Kenya telling her all they needed was one meal a day, pencils and paper. "It is life-altering, and it has humbled me to the core," she confided in a slow undertone.
"It struck a chord with me," said Michael Adams, 57, a guidance counselor at J. Albert Adams Academy, a middle school in Annapolis. He went online to research the World Food Program and called its Washington office to pledge $100.
"When I feel something is authentic, I respond," he said. "I could see the passion in her expression. Next, I am planning school-based lessons on world hunger and altruism and maybe a fundraiser."
Within a week, $10 donations snowballed into $25,000, according to Jennifer Parmelee, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program.
Barrymore is just one of many in a growing army of entertainment figures joining humanitarian crusades. Actors Meg Ryan and Salma Hayek and musician Sheryl Crow are among those who are using their star power to turn the spotlight on neglected global issues and to raise badly needed cash even at a time of donor fatigue.
Though celebrities have long attached their names to various causes -- the late Audrey Hepburn represented UNICEF, and Brigitte Bardot advocates for animal rights -- the links between Hollywood and philanthropy are stronger than ever. Stars now generate hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, sensitize the public and engage people attracted by popular culture with the serious foreign policy issues of the day.
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