So, I know you must be saying to yourself, “eriKKa, why so long between the Cause: Celebs?  I mean – I thought this was going to be a regular thing,” and you’re right it’s supposed to be, and I’ll do better.  The thing is – I have to be extremely picky.  I mean every celebrity has a charity.  Even Amy Winehouse supports 5 different organizations.  And not to be coarse or cynical – but it’s easy to write a check for a tax break or a P.R. move,  it’s a much different thing to be an activist for a cause.  The four celebrities featured thus far; Brad Pitt, Darryl Hannah, Salma Hayek and Jim Gilliam - have all sacrificed their time and their energy to give something for a cause they believe in – not unlike Wyclef Jean.

Known by most as one of three members of the now defunct group The Fugees and by some as the international recording star that he is; Wyclef Jean was born in Haiti and came to the US as a refugee when he was nine years old. (Get it, refugee - The Fugees...) Alarmed by the reports of the escalation of violence in Haiti and after taking the time to talk to everyone from police officers to militia leaders, Wyclef founded Yéle Haiti Foundation in 2005 on a mission to restore pride and a reason to hope for the people of Haiti. Yéle translates to mean - a cry for freedom. 

The foundation creates small-scale, manageable and replicable projects to contribute to Haiti’s long-term progress.

“We firmly believe that given a genuine opportunity to shape the future, Haiti’s youth will shock the world with their ability.”

Campaigns have included: Project Clean Streets (cleaning up the streets of Port au Prince), providing scholarships for close to 7000 children, repairing, rebuilding and upgrading 20 flood damaged schools in Gonaives, a traveling concert series that educates Haiti’s youth about HIV/AIDS, and launching sustainable development food service ownership businesses throughout post conflict regions in Port-au-Prince and its surroundings…those are the only some of the campaigns!

Wyclef spends most of his time in Haiti and a couple of years ago recruited Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to Yéle's cause.  In fact their involvement drove the website hits for Yéle from 20 a day to over 40,000 a day. Brangelina are like activist gods or something...

From Fu-Gee-La to humanitarian in little more than fifteen years…that’s what I call giving back.