{"id":4025,"date":"2011-04-05T10:46:12","date_gmt":"2011-04-05T14:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/?p=4025"},"modified":"2011-06-24T08:27:46","modified_gmt":"2011-06-24T12:27:46","slug":"the-weeks-inspirational-pop-culture-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2011\/04\/the-weeks-inspirational-pop-culture-moments.html","title":{"rendered":"The Week’s Inspirational Pop Culture Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Amy and Nancy Harrington, Pop Culture Passionistas<\/a><\/p>\n

An Oscar winner becomes a Good Will Ambassador, a Glee cast member gives the gift of Dance and a \u201cCelebrity Apprentice\u201d candidate gives back to the American Red Cross. Here are this week’s most inspirational pop culture moments.<\/p>\n

Liam Neeson Named Goodwill Ambassador<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actor Liam Neeson, famous for such films as “Shindler’s List” and “Taken,” was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador<\/a>. In a UNICEF press release, the organization’s Executive Director Anthony Lake said, \u201cLiam Neeson is not only a passionate dramatic actor, he is a deeply compassionate humanitarian actor. UNICEF is very lucky that he is choosing to use his time and talent to support the world\u2019s most vulnerable children, and we thank him for accepting this new role as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neeson accepted the appointment by commenting, “I am deeply honoured to have been asked by UNICEF to become a Goodwill Ambassador and am committed to working with UNICEF to help children overcome poverty, violence, disease and discrimination across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actor has been working with UNICEF in Ireland for over 15 years and now will be expanding his reach globally. He remarked, “It is shocking to me that in this day and age, 22,000 children are still dying every day for want of the most basic things like clean water to drink, a safe place to live or access to medicines when they are sick. I am determined to do whatever I can to help UNICEF.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Glee’s’ Harry Shum Gives the Gift of Dance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harry Shum Jr.\u00a0plays Mike Chang on “Glee.” He’s the kid who isn’t really a very strong singer, but kicks it in a kick line. This week the dancer who appeared in films like “Stomp the Yard” and the “Step\u00a0Up” franchise shared his talents with a group of kids at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.<\/p>\n

The Give Back Hollywood Foundation<\/a> brought Shum in to support the Andrea Rizzo Foundation in a dance therapy session. He also made a PSA for Drea’s Dream. The foundation was established in memory of Andrea Rizzo. Her life ended at the tender age of 24,\u00a0when she was hit by a drunk driver after surviving a childhood battle with cancer. Drea wanted to become a dance therapist and give kids with cancer the gift of movement. So now celebrities are doing that in her name.<\/p>\n

Shum told Give Back Hollywood, “To me movement is such a big deal, whether it’s walking or just lifting your arms up. It’s really incredible what that does… It’s great to see these kids use movement to be able to talk about their emotions.”<\/p>\n

The PSA Shum made revealed an online auction where one lucky fan will win tickets to the Glee live show and a meet and greet with the actor.<\/p>\n

For more about the auction visit eBay<\/a> and for more about Drea’s Dream visit the website.<\/a><\/p>\n