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In the Media |
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Celebrity Auction: Bidding for
Autographed 'Zambi' Elephants
Benefits Mary Fisher's Program
for AIDS Orphans in Africa |
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 A celebrity
auction starting
October 5 on eBay
will benefit
organizations that
care for Africa's
AIDS orphans,
including a program
established by Mary
Fisher.
The
auction
is part
of
PROJECT
ZAMBI, a
global
initiative
by the
toy and
game
company
Hasbro,
Inc.
Through
PROJECT
ZAMBI,
Hasbro
aims to
raise
awareness
of the
estimated
15
million
children
who have
been
orphaned
as a
result
of the
AIDS
epidemic
in
Africa
and to
support
programs
that
serve
them.
The PROJECT ZAMBI Celebrity Auction features
custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, collectible
elephant models autographed by some 30
celebrities from the worlds of film,
television, music and sports. Each celebrity
who autographed an elephant selected an
organization that supports children orphaned
by AIDS to receive the proceeds from the
auction of their elephant.
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 Oscar-winning
actress Naomi Watts
- who has served
with Mary as an
ambassador of the
United Nation's
HIV/AIDS program,
UNAIDS -- asked that
the proceeds from
the auction of her
autographed elephant
go to Mary's
Community Fund at
the
Center for
Infectious Disease
Research in Zambia
(CIDRZ) Foundation.
CIDRZ's team of
doctors, researchers
and health care
practitioners take a
three-pronged
approach to battling
HIV/AIDS and other
infectious diseases
in Africa: clinical
care, research and
training. The CIDRZ
Foundation -- Mary's
Community Fund
benefits families,
orphans and children
affected and
infected by
HIV/AIDS, and
provides assistance
-- including medical
care, food and
school fees -- for
the many devoted
guardians of AIDS
orphans.
Mary also joined forces with Hasbro for the
creation of ZAMBI THE BABY ELEPHANT, a
stuffed toy whose sales will benefit African
children orphaned by AIDS. Combining her
expertise in textile arts with her love of
the Chikumbuso Women and Orphans Project --
a Zambian community where AIDS-affected
women and children live together and care
for each other -- Mary worked with Hasbro to
send American school teachers to Chikumbuso
to create artwork with children. Designs
from the youngsters' art were then
reproduced on fabric used to make the ZAMBI
toy. Hasbro has committed to donate 50
percent of the net profits from the
worldwide sales of ZAMBI -- a minimum of
$500,000 U.S. -- to programs that serve
children orphaned by AIDS in Africa. ZAMBI
THE BABY ELEPHANT was the inspiration for
the custom elephant figures featured in the
auction. |
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 Mary also designed fabrics to create a "big
Zambi" --
seen in this video -- that Hasbro will
use to raise awareness about AIDS' impact on
children in Africa. The big Zambi model will
be on display Oct. 15-18, 2009, in Houston,
Texas, at the International Quilt Festival,
along with "Faces from My Heart," an exhibit
of Mary's quilts inspired by people she
photographed in Africa.
The PROJECT ZAMBI Celebrity Auction will
begin Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) and
will run for 10 days on eBay, with the last
bids accepted on Thursday, October 15, 2009.
In advance of the auction, the autographed
elephants can be previewed on the
PROJECT ZAMBI Web site. Bidders may
pre-qualify and learn more about the auction
at
the eBay Web site.
In the Media |
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