Celine Dion is committed to many good causes. She has her own Foundation, supports the T.J. Martell Foundation and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. But her strongest fight is against Cystic Fibrosis.
Celine Dion is the patron of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation since 1993. It was in 1982 that Celine, with only 14 years of age, began promoting public awareness of cystic fibrosis. Her niece Karine, was suffering with this disease. For years, Celine gave benefit concerts, TV announcements with her little niece, and sang a song: "Melanie" dedicated to all Cystic Fibrosis children. In 1993 Karine died in Celine’s arms while she was singing "Vole" to her. She was only 16. In this same year Celine became the foundation's Celebrity Patron and has raised money as well as donated fees from various concerts and appearances. Since then she increased her involvement in aid projects.
On the occasion of their wedding, Celine and Rene Angelil invited the guests to contribute their wedding gifts to the Cystic Fibrosis cause. In 1996, Celine was responsible for personally securing an important new sponsorship with Royal Airlines. This gave a lot of money to the children cause. In 1997 Celine Dion (now a worldwide diva) donated her appearance fees from a New York City concert and Walt Disney World, and from her guest appearance on the television show, "The Nanny" to the Foundation.
With the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Celine like many other artists contributed to her Memorial Fund. But Celine is also committed to other causes. In 1998, she was special guest on "Pavarotti and Friends Concert", to benefit War Child, an organization dedicated to helping the innocent victims of war in Liberia.
On February 2000, Celine Dion filed a 20 million dollar lawsuit, in the Los Angeles Superior Court, against the National Enquirer who published a false headline and cover story entitled "Celine - I'm pregnant with twins". The publication also falsely created the impression that Celine personally gave an interview to the tabloid and was quoted to have made the statement that she was pregnant with twins. The National Enquirer finally came to a settlement with Celine, included an apology and a donation to the "American Cancer Society".
Reactions from the newsgroup all tell Dion's performance was amazing! They all agreed that Celine's paying homage was something to remember. "Sony Music" President stated that, the French-Canadian, Celine Dion was chosen to sang the patriotic American anthem, for she is indeed, the only person who can give out such humanity...
In December 2002, Celine Dion and René Angélil accepted their new role as godparents of the "Growing Up Healthy" campaign of the Fondation de l’Hôpital Sainte-Justine, a hospital specialized in the treatment of sick children in Montreal, Quebec. They have visited with sick children at the hospital and Céline has recorded a TV commercial to bring attention to this cause. As part of their mandate, Celine and René helped to raise 100 million dollars in donations from the public for the hospital’s development plan.
On Thursday, January 13, 2005 CBC television and CBC Radio One broadcasted a benefit concert for the victims of the Tsunami in South Asia. Celine performed her song, "In Some Small Way".
Celine Dion dedicated a special Mother's Day performance of her Las Vegas show "A New Day..." and donated all of the proceeds to support the victims of the Asian tsunami. The show took place on May 8, 2005 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. The raised more than one million dollars, and the money was donated to UNICEF to help the families who have suffered as a result of the tragedy. "Like everyone else in the world, I've been devastated by the loss and suffering of so many in South Asia," said Celine. "As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that they are experiencing. We can all see that it's going to take a long time for those people to rebuild their lives, and they will need our help for years to come. I chose Mother's Day for this event because of the special meaning it has for families, but also because it will help maintain the awareness of everyone's needs in South Asia over the coming months."
On July 2, 2005, Celine Dion was one of the Canadian stars who took part at the "Live 8", a concert that aimed making people and governments aware of the poverty plaguing many Third-World countries. Celine's pre-taped performance of "Love Can Move Mountains" and message was broadcasted on the Canadian TV network CTV.
Celine Dion, Eric Clapton, Harry Connick Jr. and Bill Cosby were among the celebrities and notables joining CNN's Larry King on a three-hour Live special, broadcasted on September 3, 2005, to aid Hurricane Katrina victims. Celine appeared via satellite on the show after pledging US$1 million. Diminishing her gift, Celine Dion said fresh drinking water is more meaningful than her cash. Crying her heart out for Katrina Hurricane victims she took a position against the delayed and still poor federal response:
"There's people still there waiting to be rescued. To me that is not acceptable," she yelled. And, making matters "worse", she gave a laud slap at the U.S. policy in Iraq: "How can it be so easy to send planes in another country to kill everybody in a second and destroy lives?! We need to serve OUR country... and for me to serve our country is to be there right now to rescue the rest of the people".
On September 4, 2005, Celine Dion appeared once again at the 40th edition of the famous "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon". The event is a 21-hour show that informs the public about the Muscular Dystrophy Association and raises money to fight the disease. The money raised at this year event was divided between victims of the hurricane-stricken communities and the traditional beneficiaries dealing with muscular dystrophy.
Entertainers Celine Dion and Elton John got on stage February 20, 2006 to sing together for the first time, in a benefit to raise money for Harrah's Entertainment Inc. workers hard hit by hurricanes. The pair, who sang duets of "Sorry," and "Saturday Night" before a packed Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and comedian Jerry Seinfeld joined forces to raise $2.1 million for some 8,000 casino workers in the Gulf Coast region.
On Sunday, May 7, 2006, Celine Dion and cast celebrated the 500th performance of "A New Day...", at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Celine Dion marked this special milestone by donating show proceeds totaling $1,027,450 to The Celine Dion Foundation to benefit ten Las Vegas charities. "The people of Las Vegas have been so good to us since we moved here. By dedicating this special show to local charities and contributing to their efforts to help the community, it gives us a chance to say thank you in a very meaningful way", said Celine Dion.
While in South Africa, Celine met Mr. Nelson Mandela, and on February 15, she and her family visited the school children feeding programme in Soweto township near Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the press the pop diva made a generous donation to this school
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Important dates: > On December 15, 1999, Celine Dion was named an Artist for Peace, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.
> In 2006, FORBES magazine named Celine Dion as "one of the 10 most generous celebrities". The other generous celebrities identified by Forbes were U2 lead singer Bono, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Cage, Sandra Bullock, Steven Spielberg, Paul McCartney, Jackie Chan and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The 10 were not ranked.
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You can find more information here:
Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 2221 Yonge Street, Suite 601, Toronto, Ontario M4S 2B4
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TRIBUTE TO CELINE DION - WWW.ANGELFIRE.COM/POP/DIVACELINEDION 2000/2008 - PORTUGAL |
On
February 14th, Celine's World Tour has celebrated it's debut in
Johannesburg, South Africa, giving a benefit concert for the Nelson
Mandela Children's Fund. She did another 8 shows in South Africa,
contributing additional proceeds from these shows to Mr. Mandela's
Children's Fund.