Celeb Watch
Hollywood loves Washington, and we love those who give right back—here are some of the big names and big dollars that made a splash this year.
When Oprah Winfrey comes to town, which is often, the city takes note—especially when she donates $1 million at a luncheon for DC’s N Street Village (nstreetvillage.org), which provides services for homeless women. These include a day center and night shelter, along with an addiction-recovery program. Also last spring, American Idol winner David Cook jogged into town for the Race for Hope (curebraintumors.org); his team donated $100,000 toward the more than $2.1 million raised for brain-cancer research. George Clooney, John Prendergast and Don Cheadle held court at The National Press Club earlier this fall to unveil the results of a two-year report on South Sudan’s horrific war economy. The project was the work of The Sentry, an investigative initiative that collaborated with the charities the Enough Project (enoughproject.org) and Not on Our Watch (notonourwatchproject.org).
Number Crunch
$2 Million
The dollar amount billionaire investor Robert F. Smith donated to the recently opened National Museum of African American History and Culture (nmaahc.si.edu) The multimillion-dollar donation stands as one of the largest personal gifts to a Smithsonian museum. The $20 million is earmarked to support the museum’s digitization program and for community outreach and curatorial initiatives.
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