The Jolie-Pitt Foundation has committed $2 million  towards the N/a’an ku sê Mission in Namibia. The Mission aims to conserve the land, cultures and wildlife of the African county and to rescue species threatened by an ever-shrinking habitat.  The charity also works  to improve the lives of the San Bushman community in Namibia through better education, employment, healthcare and improved living conditions.

According a a press release from the Mission, Pitt and Jolie have a close friendship with Rudie and Marlice van Vuuren who are the directors and Founders of N/a’an ku sê. Namibia is also where the celebrity couple chose to deliver their daughter, Shiloh.

“We have known Rudie and Marlice for many years and continue to be impressed by their hard work and dedication to the people and conservation of the land and wildlife of Namibia,” Jolie said according to the release. “The new section of the project will be under N/a’an ku sê and in Shiloh’s name.  We want her to be very involved and grow up with the understanding of her country of birth.”

The Jolie-Pitt family spent Christmas at the N/a’an ku sê where they engaged in several activities including visiting the San Bushman School on the farm and witnessing the release of a leopard back into the wild.  I love seeing rich celebs giving back to the world!

The walk benefited the California Wildlife Centre and Anderson, who is currently participating on the reality TV show Dancing With The Stars, was also given the top honour of the day.  She released back into the wild a pelican that had been rehabilitated by the Centre.  Now three miles is not exactly a marathon but Pam is always doing great things for charity so we salute her!

CharityCar would like to thank its many generous donors across North America who, despite the economic downturn, contributed to its success; more importantly, the success of its supported charities and the betterment of the environment.

David Gold from Standard Auto Wreckers (www.standardautowreckers.com) and the founder of the program said: “We originally started this program to give back to our local community in Toronto, Ontario and when friends in the business heard about what we were doing they all wanted to join in. Now, three years later, we have over 150 partner charities and more than 70 member recyclers in both Canada and the USA participating! It really is heartwarming to see.”

About CharityCar
CharityCar (CharityCar.us and CharityCar.ca) accepts the donation of old vehicles on behalf of charities and non-profit organizations across North America. CharityCar utilizes its partner Green Vehicle Disposal’s eco-friendly recycling technology, offers ‘free pickup’, does not take any fees for processing or handling charity vehicles and donates 100% of the recyclers value to the customers’ chosen charity in the United States or Canada. CharityCar’s purpose is to provide its customers with an eco-friendly solution for the disposal of old vehicles. All vehicles donated through CharityCar are disposed of in an eco-friendly manner which meets and exceed all recycling rules. For more information, visit: www.CharityCar.us or www.CharityCar.ca.

They are proud to practice environmentally sound processes when dismantling and recycling our vehicles. This is achieved by properly draining all hazardous fluids from the vehicle thereby not having them drain into the ground. They remove Mercury switches and other dangerous substances from the vehicles and dispose of them in a safe way in accordance with local laws.

The AIP along with AARP, the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Association of Secretaries of State and a few other public service organizations partnered with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and over 60 law enforcers in a 48-state sweep of questionable charities, fundraising companies and individuals. The sweep, which included 76 law enforcement actions, focused on so-called “hero charities” that purport to raise money for police, firefighters and veterans. Why the focus on hero charities? Because unscrupulous fundraisers know that people are more likely to give to these causes than any others. Who wouldn’t want to help the heroes that risk their lives to protect us?

At the May 2009 press conference in Washington, DC where the sweep was announced, Sheriff Jerry “Peanuts” Gaines of Warren County, Kentucky spoke of his encounter with a fake charity. The Sheriff, who prides himself on his open door policy, kept hearing from people who wanted to drop off or mail him a check to pay for bulletproof vests. He told these well-intentioned folks that his office’s law enforcement personnel already had bulletproof vests and then asked them why they thought otherwise. It turns out that each of them had received a call from a telemarketer who said that he was raising money to buy vests for the local Sheriff’s department. So the next time that you want to contribute in response to a solicitation for your local police or firefighters, first contact them to find out if they have authorized it and agree with the need for the appeal.

The FTC announced at the May press conference that it had filed two federal court complaints, one of which was against three AIP F rated charities that claimed to help disabled police or firefighters or needy military families when “[t]heir real goal, however, was to dupe consumers into contributing money that the defendants used overwhelmingly just to support themselves and their fundraisers.” American Veterans Relief Foundation (AVRF), Coalition of Police and Sheriffs (COPS) and Disabled Firefighters Fund (DFF), which all operate out of the same address in Santa Ana, California, are alleged by the FTC to be shams. Only 5.4% of the $19 million that these groups raised from 2005 to 2008 was spent on charitable activities.

These three F rated charities “were initially formed by an individual, Joseph Shambaugh, who used them as facades to facilitate raising millions of dollars from generous but unwitting donors,” according to the FTC complaint. Shambaugh found a president for each charity who provided no oversight and allowed him to siphon off most of the donated funds after the telemarketer got 80% to 90% of the money raised. From 2000 to mid-2005 less than 2% of the total raised was earmarked for the charitable programs described in the solicitations, according to the complaint. The FTC says Shambaugh was indicted in 2006 for mail fraud and money laundering connected with his fundraising operation and remains a fugitive.

Just be careful when donating to a charity and don’t let these types of unscrupulous criminals steal your money.