Most people know about the world famous band U2, from Dublin, Ireland. However, many do not know of lead singer Bono's work as a philanthropist. According to Bono, it all started in 1979 when he watched a benefit show called Secret Policeman's Ball for the human-rights organization, Amnesty International. Later, U2 collaborated with Sting to perform in another benefit ball for Amnesty's Conspiracy of Hope.
In the past 10 years, Bono has successfully juggled his music with philanthropy. Since 1999, he has focused on raising AIDS awareness in third world countries in Africa. As a result, he was nominated in 2003, 2005, and 2006 for a Noble Peace Prize for his philanthropy. He also shared Time magazine's award for Person of the Year in 2005 with Melinda and Bill Gates. 
Interestingly enough, in 2006, he founded the product (RED) organization which works with many companies such as Gap, Apple Inc., Starbucks, Converse, and Nike to name a few. These companies create a project with the (RED) logo on it and sell it; eventually, a percentage of the profits go to the global fund.
Gap created an entire line of products and 50% of the proceeds to go the fund. Nike came out with a line of red shoelaces, and Apple came out with special red ipods which can provide over three weeks of medicine for struggling victims. The goal of the organization is to help raise awareness funds to help eliminate Aids in Africa and so far it has been extremely successful.
Since its 2006 launch, it has raised over $150 million dollars and ,in turn, has impacted 7.5 million lives in Africa.
pictures:
http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2010/08/09/from-the-desk-of-trans-ams-nathan-means-bono-vs-sting-whos-cooler/
http://www.krlx.org/?id=915
http://www.listal.com/list/time-magazines-person-year
sources: http://www.joinred.com/red/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_Red
http://www.u2.com/
Nice job, Tess. Good job referring to the Amnesty Int'l concerts, which predated Live Aid. I should have mentioned them in class.
ReplyDeleteGood job, Tess!! Your blog post is very informative as it touches on a detailed history of the work of Bono and U2 with regards to charitable and humanitarian work. You clearly did extensive research, refering to specific dates and numbers, and are interested in the story as well.
ReplyDeleteGood Job Tess! Your blogs are always very informative and very nicely done! I was interested in reading up on the history and of how Bono and U2 are. The research you did is great on this and the format runs smoothly.
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