NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Tyra Banks, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Sophia Bush, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Demi Lovato and Olivia Wilde Win Big at the 2011 Do Something Awards

In addition to a night of celebrities and performances by Demi Lovato, Foster the People and OneRepublic featuring B.o.B, Sarah Cronk (18) of Bettendorf, Iowa received a grand prize of $100,000 for The Sparkle Effect. This is the largest and most prestigious prize in the world for young people and social change.

Cronk watched her older brother Charlie struggle to fit in during high school because of his disabilities. He was depressed and anxious, until the captain of the swim team invited him to join. Suddenly, the cool kids welcomed him, and he found a new group of friends. Inspired by Charlie, Cronk co-founded the first high school-based inclusive cheerleading squad in the nation. Today, The Sparkle Effect has generated 34 squads in 15 states and South Africa, encouraging a culture of acceptance in every community.

"I'm not sure that I've ever had a more proud and grateful experience in my twenty year career than helping produce this show," said Nancy Lublin, CEO and Chief Old Person of DoSomething.org.

"It was so inspiring to see this mash-up of incredible people from the worlds of music, film, television and comedy sharing their personal experiences about what's really important to them in fun yet poignant ways. I think our viewers will agree that the show was another signature pop culture moment for VH1, and I hope that it inspires them to, well, do something, for their communities," said Tom Calderone, President, VH1.

Full list of awards include: Do Something Athlete, David Beckham; Do Something Docu-Style, Waiting for Superman; Do Something Movie Star, Olivia Wilde; Do Something Charity Song, "Make a Wave" by Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas; Do Something Music Artist, Justin Bieber; Do Something City, New York, NY; Do Something Reality TV Show, America's Best Dance Crew; Do Something Comedian, Will Ferrell; Do Something Style, Tyra Banks; Do Something Concert, Taylor Swift's Speak Now Tour to Benefit Tornado Victims; Do Something TV Show, Glee; Do Something Festival, Coachella; Do Something TV Star, Demi Lovato; Do Something Couple, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert; Do Something Twitter, Sophia Bush; and Do Something Facebook, Robin Hood Foundation - Lady Gaga Giveaway.

The finalists this year have all gone above and beyond to make a difference in their communities and will be rewarded with a community grant and continued support from DoSomething.org. Nominees include Taryn Guerrero Davis for The American Widow Project, David Schwartz for The Real Food Challenge, Mark Kabban for YALLA (Youth And Leaders Living Actively) and Adam Lowy for Move for Hunger.

    --  Taryn Guerrero Davis (25) is from Buda, Texas.  When she was just 21,
        Guerrero received devastating news: her husband, Corporal Michael Davis,
        had been killed in Iraq. While her family provided emotional support,
        she still felt lost and alone. When her Google search for "widow" turned
        up the result: "Do you mean window?" she knew she had to take action.
        Guerrero created The American Widow Project to provide resources to the
        3,000+ other women around the country whose husbands have died in Iraq
        and Afghanistan. This national movement has served and united over 700
        widows so far, using peer-to-peer retreats, counseling, and virtual
        tools.
    --  David Schwartz (25) of Providence, Rhode Island grew up in a low-income
        neighborhood where the school food was so bad that he and his friends
        would often go all day without eating and spend whatever little money
        they had on fast food after the last bell rang. When his family later
        moved to a nearby affluent suburb, he was shocked by the disparities
        between his two communities--how access to healthy foods in the inner
        city was so devastatingly low, and the diabetes rates so high. Schwartz
        created The Real Food Challenge to shift $1 billion of college food
        purchases toward local, sustainable, humane and fair trade sources by
        2020. To date, over 35,000 students have taken part, and David and his
        team have trained over 1,700 student leaders at over 300 schools, all
        working together to build a healthy, fair, and green food economy.
    --  Mark Kabban (23) of San Diego, California is familiar with the
        linguistic, financial, and educational struggles that immigrants face
        because of his own family's experience coming to the United States from
        war-torn Lebanon. He realized the power of sports and education after
        earning a college athletic scholarship, and established Youth And
        Leaders Living Actively (YALLA) to empower immigrant families and their
        children, using soccer and art to help them develop the knowledge and
        confidence to pursue their goals. In 2010 YALLA provided over 150
        refugee children with soccer scholarships, in addition to offering
        tutoring programs and community service opportunities, providing a
        full-rounded holistic program for refugee youth and their families.
    --  Adam Lowy (25) resides in Neptune, New Jersey.  His great-grandfather
        started a moving company over 90 years ago, and in working with his
        family, Adam has seen firsthand the amount of food that people throw
        away when they move. He recognized the potential of this wasted food and
        founded Move for Hunger, which works with moving companies to strengthen
        our nation's food banks. Move for Hunger currently works with 130 moving
        companies across 32 states and has collected 150,000 pounds of food for
        food banks.

The 2011 Do Something Awards were presented by State Farm®, Tide Loads of Hope and Warner Bros. Pictures / Alcon Entertainment's "Dolphin Tale."

This year's show was executive produced by Michael Dempsey for Dempsey Productions and Lee Rolontz for VH1. Nancy Lublin and Naomi Hirabayashi oversaw the awards show for DoSomething.org.

About DoSomething.org

DoSomething.org is one of the largest organizations in the US that helps young people rock causes they care about. By leveraging the web, television, mobile, and pop culture, DoSomething.org inspires, empowers and celebrates a generation of doers: young people 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. Follow us on Twitter @DoSomething. For more information visit: http://www.dosomething.org/programs/awards or follow updates on the Do Something Awards on Twitter by searching hashtag #dsawards, the official hashtag of the Do Something Awards.

About VH1

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 99 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, and extensive video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

SOURCE VH1