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"How SELF&amp;#39;s Favorite Celebrities Give Back\\nFind out how stars like Jessica Alba, Kerry Washington, Jenna Dewan-Tatum and others make a difference.\\n__[\u2606 2012 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[Baby2Baby](http://www.baby2baby.org/)__\\n\\n[Jessica Alba](/healthystars/2012/09/jessica-alba-safer-home-slideshow)'s company, Honest, makes and sells eco-friendy baby, bath, body and household products. A portion of proceeds goes to children and families in need via Baby2Baby, her company's nonprofit partner.\\n\\n\\\"I found my daughter Honor sitting in her crib, eating these tiny beads from the inside of her diaper. They were all over her face. It was a moment of terror.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"Thankfully, Honor was OK, but it was so crazy, and I felt guilty afterward. I worried that I'd poisoned my daughter\u2014and these were eco-diapers! I found ones that seemed safer, but they leaked, so I had to use two at once, and they were already so expensive. The more research I did, the more irritated I got. Most parents don't have time to do all this research\u2014they need a company with products they can trust. I wanted to create that.\\\"\\n\\n__How you can help:__ Call your senator to support the Safe Chemicals Act, which would require testing of chemicals in household products.\\n__[\u2606 2012 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__Arts Advocacy__\\n\\nAs a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Washington, 35, helps ensure that the arts have a role in children's education and in society at large.\\n\\n\\\"I'm committed to changing the fact that kids in schools with less money have less access to the arts. I grew up in New York City during the crack epidemic, with vials on the ground. Theater and dance classes helped keep me off the street.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"Through art, we can understand who we are and who we want to be. If we want to compete globally, we need arts programs. But we teach kids to pass tests, not to innovate. The arts help kids think creatively, but they're one of the first things to get cut.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"I volunteered for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. I thought it was a huge deal that he made a commitment to fund the arts even during these difficult economic times. As a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, I'm partnering with a school in D.C. to help it use arts education to improve things. We work directly with the first lady, and it's all been so rewarding.\\\"\\n\\n__How you can help:__ Visit Americans for the Arts at [ArtsUSA.org](http://artsusa.org/), where you can check your rep's voting record on arts funding and get suggestions for sending advocacy letters.\\n__[\u2606 2012 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[The Gentle Barn](http://www.gentlebarn.org/)__\\n\\n\\\"I started by sponsoring Zeus, an abused pig who'd been rescued from a fair, for $30 a month, at The Gentle Barn, which rescues and rehabilitates abused or malnourished farm animals and offers programs for children. Then I visited the Barn, and my time there was transformative. Who says animals don't have feelings? The ones at the Barn are clearly so happy. Animals and people are connected. We have to treat each other with compassion.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"In Hollywood, there's this energy that nothing is good enough. You get a movie but not the one you wanted. You get a role but not the biggest. It's draining and not who I am at my core. So I take time to go to places that ground me, like The Gentle Barn. Otherwise, I'd spin out.\\\"\\n\\n__How you can help:__ Sponsor an animal or volunteer to be a cow hugger (yes, that's a real thing) at GentleBarn.org.\\n__[CharityWater.org](http://www.charitywater.org/)__\\n\\nDamn, this girl's got it together: She's killing it careerwise, looks amazing, and then there's that man of hers. But even more impressive? Her fund-raising for CharityWater.org, which brings H2O to those without.\\n__Youth Outreach__\\n\\nHilary Duff, on a break from new-mom duty, gardening at a Los Angeles youth center (left).\\n\\n\\\"It felt great to get down in the dirt and plant flowers and herbs to support kids.\\\"\\n\\n__How you can help:__ Click on [DoSomething.org](http://www.dosomething.org/) to find ways to pitch in near you.\\n__[American Cancer Society](http://www.cancer.org/)__\\n\\nJamie-Lynn Sigler is cofounder of CJ Free Jewelry, which has a line benefiting the American Cancer Society.\\n\\n\\\"We made this bracelet to honor a close friend with cancer and to help create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.\\\"\\n\\n__How you can help:__ Wear the bracelet to help wipe out cancer. $25; [CJFreeJewelry.com](http://cjfreejewelry.com/collections/bracelets/)\\n__[Soles4Souls](http://www.soles4souls.org/)__\\n\\nSarah Hyland added some sparkle to a Soles4Souls shoe drive in L.A.\\n\\n\\\"All the celebs donated a pair of shoes out of their closet, which we put in an old VW van on the red carpet. Sarah was a great sport and tossed shoes into the van for us.\\\" *\u2014Keith Woodley of Soles4Souls, which collects shoes for those who need them*\\n\\n__How you can help:__ Put that heel love to good use. Go to Soles4Souls.org to donate.\\n__[\u2606 2011 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[Julian D. King Gift Foundation](http://www.myspace.com/jenniferhudson/blog/445148395)__\\n\\n[Jennifer Hudson](/healthystars/2011/09/how-jennifer-hudson-lost-80-pounds-slideshow) had just gotten engaged when, in 2008, the unthinkable happened: Her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew were murdered. As part of her healing, she started the Julian D. King Gift Foundation in her nephew's honor. It donates holiday toys to needy children in Chicago, including the neighborhood where she grew up.\\n\\n\\\"I wanted to help kids in Julian's memory,\\\" she says. \\\"We were poor growing up, but I didn't know it because we never went without or had a sad Christmas. It's heart-wrenching to see kids with no holiday gifts. So my sister and I started a toy drive at our old church in Chicago, and now we're expanding to school supplies. We're also creating a teen volunteer program, where kids can get school credit for helping out with our foundation. But there's so much more to be done.\\\"\\n\\n[Hudson](/healthystars/2011/09/jennifer-hudson-stay-slim-diet-slideshow) says, \\\"I'm from the kind of family that, when you come around the house, *you* become family. I've been lucky to have so many giving people in my life\u2014my mother, my grandmother and sister, teachers who believed in me. People took the time to invest in me, and here I am.\\\"\\n__[\u2606 2011 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[LatisseWishesChallenge.com](http://LatisseWishesChallenge.com)__\\n\\nOn AMC's *Mad Men,* there's no problem that can't be solved by a strong [cocktail](/fooddiet/2011/08/healthy-cocktails-slideshow) and the quick thinking of savvy office bombshell Joan Harris, played by [Christina Hendricks](/healthystars). But in real life, that's not always the case: Things go awry; sometimes, kids get sick.\\n\\nThat's one reason Hendricks is working with the Latisse Wishes Challenge for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The drive has raised $1.5 million to fulfill dreams for children with life-threatening illnesses and, with Hendricks's help, is aiming for $500,000 more.\\n\\n\\\"Around first grade, a girl in my class wanted to meet actor Erik Estrada, and Make-A-Wish made it happen. It was amazing! I met him myself years later and got to tell him how special it was for her.\\\"\\n\\nHow can you help? \\\"Donate $20 and up and Latisse will double that, up to $250,000. We want to grant a wish for every Make-A-Wish chapter in the country.\\\"\\n__[\u2606 2011 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[Baby Buggy](http://babybuggy.org/)__\\n\\nAs a mother of three, cookbook author [Jessica Seinfeld](/healthystars), 40, knows what it takes to raise kids: love, patience and, of course, diapers. Her nonprofit, Baby Buggy, has donated more than 2.4 million of them, along with more than 2.6 million other essentials such as strollers and cribs to parents in need.\\n\\n\\\"We keep families intact and kids safe with usable things that would have ended up in a landfill,\\\" she says. \\\"A decade ago, as a new mom, I looked at all the expensive gear my baby was rapidly outgrowing and realized that there were families down the block who couldn't afford the basics. So I organized a weekend drive and asked friends to donate. We got more than we ever imagined. I saw right away that this would become bigger than I'd thought. Since then, more than 19,000 [volunteers](/health/2011/08/give-back-slideshow) have helped us clean, patch and repair donations.\\\"\\n\\nThe impact? \\\"There are so many stories\u2014like a mom who overcame her fear of leaving her abuser because she could finally afford to feed and clothe her infant on her own. We're improving lives in real ways.\\\" It's a family thing for Seinfeld. \\\"My parents were committed to volunteering, and it was expected of us. It's how I was raised. Needless to say, the same goes for my children.\\\"\\n__[\u2606 2011 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[SecretSocietyOfWomen.com](http://www.secretsocietyofwomen.com/)__\\n\\nAs a journalist and host of OWN's *Our America,* Lisa Ling, 38, has made it her mission to create change by reporting on injustice. But when it came to her own life, she was more circumspect: \\\"I didn't want other people to know my baggage.\\\"\\n\\nThen Ling had a miscarriage. \\\"I felt as if I had failed,\\\" she says. When she finally told friends what she was feeling, \\\"I realized my reaction was very common, which was comforting.\\\"\\n\\nThat discovery led Ling and business partner Sophia Kim to cofound SecretSocietyOfWomen.com, a forum for women to air what's on their mind, anonymously. \\\"We had more than 2 million page views the first month,\\\" Ling says. \\\"The women who use it say it's a lifeline for them.\\\"\\n\\nWhy? \\\"Whatever you've experienced, however embarrassing, someone else has been through it, too. We've made it possible to talk about things we're afraid to tell even our family\u2014surviving abuse, dealing with infidelity. To change things, you have to make people aware of them.\\\"\\n\\nWhat moves her most: \\\"Women spill out their heart on the site. It's so compelling, and it's really what I wanted to put out there, a place where women could feel safe and get things off their chest.\\\"\\n__[CARE.org](http://www.care.org/index.asp?)__\\n\\n\\\"In Kenya, 25 percent of teens and young women lose their virginity by rape. Girls are sold, beaten and abused. But things are changing now because philanthropic organizations like CARE work with local programs that teach girls about self-confidence and protecting themselves. CARE's Sport for Social Change program uses activities such as basketball and boxing to empower girls in a safe place where they can play and be kids again while developing a sense of community.\\\"\\n\\n[Menounos traveled to Kenya](/healthystars/2011/06/maria-menounos-kenya-slideshow) to report on what's happening for the Making a Difference series on *NBC Nightly News*.\\n__[\u2606 2010 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[Girls Educational &amp; Mentoring Services (GEMS)](http://www.gems-girls.org/)__\\n\\n[Beyonc\u00E9](/healthystars/2010/09/beyonce-doing-good-slideshow) is a spokeswoman for the group, which helps young women who have been victims of sex trafficking. Her philanthropic outreach doesn't stop there, though.\\n\\n[Beyonc\u00E9](/healthystars/2010/09/beyonce-doing-good-slideshow) has donated to Phoenix House, a drug and alcohol treatment center, and opened the Beyonc\u00E9 Cosmetology Center at the Houston location to provide opportunities for recovering addicts to learn job skills. She founded The Survivor Foundation with her family and former bandmate Kelly Rowland in 2005 to help disaster victims after Katrina hit.\\n\\n\\\"I watched my parents get involved in [community charities] in Houston, and that taught me how important it is to 'give 'til it hurts.' I saw how happy you could make people, whether just giving someone a hug, having a conversation or spending some time, and it became a part of me.\\\"\\n__[ChildrensHospital.org](http://ChildrensHospital.org)__\\n\\n[The Massachusetts native](/fooddiet/2010/04/ellen-pompeo-energy-diet-tips-slideshow) put her Dr. Grey charm to work at a Boston pediatric hospital, hanging with kids and their stuffed friends!\\n__[YoungAchieversSchool.org](http://YoungAchieversSchool.org)__\\n\\n[Diaz](/2011/06/stars-favorite-workout-moves-slideshow) was all smiles as she helped build a flower garden at a public school in an urban area of Boston as part of the first National Day of Service and Remembrance.\\n__[GetUrGoodOn.org](http://GetUrGoodOn.org)__\\n\\nCyrus started Get Ur Good On with Youth Service America to motivate her peers to volunteer more. She visited Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.\\n__[RedCross.org](http://RedCross.org)__\\n\\nThe *Avatar* star did disaster-relief work in nearby Santo Domingo after the earthquake in Haiti. \\\"The Dominican Republic was my home for years. I want to help in any way I can!\\\"\\n__[CityOfHope.org](http://CityOfHope.org)__\\n\\nGrowing up in Oklahoma, the [Grammy-winning star](/fooddiet/2011/07/country-stars-comfort-food-slideshow) spent time on the softball field, so she was well prepared for a game to raise money for City of Hope, a cancer-research hospital in Duarte, California.\\n__[SaveTheChildren.org](http://SaveTheChildren.org)__\\n\\nA mother of two, Garner is a pro at getting kids to eat good-for-them treats. She served up a yogurt parfait at a New York City event for Save the Children's [healthy-snack](/fooddiet/2011/06/healthy-food-awards-snacks-slideshow) initiative.\\n__[\u2606 2010 Women Doing Good Honoree \u2606](/women-doing-good)__\\n\\n__[Stand Up to Cancer](http://standup2cancer.org)__\\n\\nIn 2008, the *Friday Night Lights* star lost her 51-year-old mother, Maureen, to colon cancer. Rather than collapse into her grief, Kelly, an only child, fought back. She became an ambassador for Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C), a nonprofit that has raised more than $100 million for breakthrough cancer research since its inception in 2008.\\n\\n  \\n__[More on Women Doing Good](/women-doing-good)__"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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