USHER, AKON & CORBIN BLEU TAKE THE STAGE
FOR DOSOMETHING.ORG’S SOLD OUT “SWEET 16” AWARDS SHOW AT THE APOLLO
gRANd prIZE WINNER MAGGIE DOYLE, 22, TAKES HOME $100,000 GRAND PRIZE
New York, NY (June 8th 2009)--Five amazing young people who saw a problem in the world and tackled it were honored and celebrated at DoSomething.org’s “Sweet 16” Awards Show on Thursday night at the World Famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem.
Grand prize winner Maggie Doyle, 22, of Mendham, NJ walked away with a whopping $100,000 grant to further her work with the many orphans of Nepal. In her acceptance speech, Maggie insisted “I’m just a girl from New Jersey…” but it isn’t every girl who goes backpacking on a gap year…and never comes back. Instead, she stayed in Nepal (which has an estimated 1 million orphans) and used her life savings of $5,000 to buy a plot of land, build The Kopila Valley Children's Home for 26 kids that she is responsible for, and has since helped find families for roughly 800 children. With the $100,000 grant from DoSomething.org, Maggie will begin plans to construct a school in Nepal for these children who are in dire need of a formal education and, more importantly, a memorable childhood.
The star-studded event hosted by High School Musical’s Corbin Bleu included performances by Boys Like Girls and Akon, who crowd surfed over the 1,600 attendees. Socially conscious Usher accepted the leading youth organization’s Celebs Gone Good Award for his philanthropic endeavors, and celebrity presenters included Nick Cannon, Russel Simmons, Lil Mama, Lauren Bush, Andrew Shue, Ugly Betty’s Mark Indelicato and Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants’ Amber Tamblyn.
“We couldn’t have asked for a more fabulous event and five more deserving kids,” said Nancy Lublin, Do Something CEO and Chief Old Person. “We are so proud to honor and celebrate these ‘rock stars of social change’ and spread their message to the millions of kids out there that they too can change the world.”
Kimmie Weeks, 2007 Do Something Award Winner, referred to the Do Something Awards as the highest honor for the "under 25 crowd" and stated that he thought this award could be the Nobel Prize for young people.
The 2009 Do Something Awards $10,000 grant winners include:
· David Burstein, 20 (Weston, CT) - 18 in '08
· Eric Glustrom, 24 (Boulder, CO) - Educate!
· Darius Weems, 19 (Athens, GA) - Darius Goes West
MTV partnered with DoSomething to supersize Darius Weems’ prize, giving him special recognition for the incredible impact he’s had on Duchenne’s funding and awareness, as well as disability rights. MTV News interviewed Darius and filmed his acceptance speech, and profiled him in a package that aired on MTV and MTV.com, encouraging viewers to share his story and donate to Charley’s Fund. In the fall, MTV2 and mtvU will exclusively world premiere “Darius Goes West” on air, again encouraging a national audience to advance Darius’ courageous work. Additionally, MTV is donating $10,000 to Charley’s Fund, which devotes 100 percent of its funds to finding a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Check out the MTV News piece on Darius and how they are blowing up his prize.
DoSomething.org also surprised the other four winners’ by super-sizing their prizes too!
· Skype President Josh Silverman appeared (via Skype) announcing that they would “wire” Maggie’s orphanage in Nepal and provide her with the latest Skype software to communicate via Skype from Nepal
· Lil Mama made a special guest appearance on stage with the announcement that Marvelyn would appear on VH1’s Divas Live in the fall, to which Marveyn responded: “Serious? I hope I’m in town!”
· David was granted 20 new flip-cams to capture his driving young voter’s registration and political awareness around the U.S.
· Eric received 10 new laptop computers for the kids he works with in Uganda
Reaching over 12 million people (age 25 and under) in 2008, Do Something is driven by its rule of “No Money, No Car, and No Adults!” A trusted resource for young people looking to get involved in their community, DoSomething.org gives young people easy ways to take action around and get involved in over 80 causes and issues (www.DoSomething.org/WhatsYourThing), works with over 500 school clubs to take action in 43 states, Puerto Rico and Canada (www.DoSomething.org/Clubs), and offers two $500 seed grants every week to young people wanting to get their project or cause off the ground (www.DoSomething.org/Grants). DoSomething.org also houses the largest national database of geo-sorted, youth-appropriate volunteer opportunities, which is available via mobile text message. (www.DoSomething.org/TextMe)
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ABOUT DO SOMETHING:
Do Something believes teenagers have the power to make a difference. We leverage communication technologies to enable teens to convert their ideas and energy into positive action. Recipient of Fast Company’s Social Capitalist Award in 2008 and Webby People’s Voice Award in 2009, Do Something inspires, empowers and celebrates a generation of doers (nearly 12 million kids in 2008): Teenagers who recognize the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action. Plug in at www.DoSomething.org.
ABOUT THE DO SOMETHING AWARDS:
Do Something Award applications are reviewed and judged by the Do Something Award Academy (comprised of former winners) who read through every application and select 12 finalists. The 12 Do Something Award finalists are flown to New York City, where representatives from the Do Something Award Selection Committee interview the finalists face-to-face. The 12 finalists are narrowed down to five Do Something Award winners who will be honored on June 4th, 2009 at a star-studded event at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theatre in New York City and receive a minimum of $10,000 in community grants and scholarships. Of those five winners, one will be selected as the grand prize Do Something Award winner and receive a total of $100,000 in community grants. The Do Something Award community grant money is paid directly to the not-for-profit of the winner’s choice. All winners have the option of receiving $5,000 of the total money awarded in the form of an educational scholarship. Check out www.DoSomething.org/Programs/Awards.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sunshine, Sachs & Associates 212.691.2800
Janell Vantrease / Vantrease@sunshinesachs.com
DoSomething.org 212.254.2390 x.231
Kevin Hughes / KHughes@DoSomething.org