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January 28, 2005
OK, I forgive you for making "Sliver."
Just when I was prepared to write off all celebs as self-obsessed jagoffs, Sharon Stone shows me up for the coldhearted cynic I am. If this doesn't move you even a little, I feel sorry for you:
Sharon Stone raised $1 million in five minutes Friday for mosquito nets in Tanzania, turning a panel on African poverty into an impromptu fund-raiser.About an hour into the panel, when a U.N. official said 150,000 African children were dying of malaria every month because they didn't have bed nets, Stone suddenly rose from her seat in the audience.
"I'd like to offer $10,000 to help you buy some bed nets today," Stone told Tanzanian President Benjamin William Mkapa, who was on the panel along with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and others.
Stone ten implored others in the hall -- packed with several hundred well-heeled executives and political leaders attending the WOrld Economic Forum -- to reach into their pockets.
"Just stand up. Just stand up. People are dying in his country today," she said. "And that is not OK with me today."
Immediately an unidentified man promised $50,000.
Around 30 others quickly followed, and within five minutes, Stone had raised $1 million, said Sen. Bill Frist, the Senate leader who moderated the panel discussion on how rich nations can best fund the war on poverty.
Posted by Your Protagonist at January 28, 2005 12:40 PM