“A big deal in my family is that we’ve always learned about giving back. My mom always wanted me to know that even though we weren’t as fortunate as we are now that giving back was always very important. As much as you could do really meant a lot. So now that I have this platform that I’m able to have my voice be heard, I still have that same mentality, but I’m able to share that and educate my fans and encourage my fans to help as well. It’s all about the simple things. Your voice is the most powerful tool you have so being able to spread the word about organizations and wanting to get involved. It’s all about going online and trying to find places around your community, just about the lesson, I think.” — Selena Gomez tells Samaritanmag.com

Seventeen-year-old Gomez is UNICEF’s youngest ambassador and traveled in September 2009 to Ghana to see first-hand how many of the country’s children lack the necessities we all take for granted — clean water, nutritious food, education and healthcare. Best known for her role as Alex Russo on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place, Gomez is currently promoting her debut album, Kiss & Tell. She has 3.3 million Facebook fans (second only to Lady Gaga in the top 40 pop world) and more than 1.4 million Twitter followers. That’s a lot of fans to teach about giving back.

By Karen Bliss

Melissa Auf der Maur’s short film, a bewitching time-traveling Viking-themed fantasy entitled Out Of Our Minds and part of a multi-media project that includes an album of the same name out in March, was shot by New York filmmaker Tony Stone using HD solar powered cameras. The solo artist and former bassist for Hole and Smashing Pumpkins has become increasingly interested in reducing her carbon footprint.

“Tony, he’s also my boyfriend, is incredibly well-read on the practicality of energy, the simple fact of energy and the little things we can do,” Auf der Maur tells Samaritanmag. “We shot the film on his family’s land [in Vermont] and it’s off the grid. He’s been spending his entire life at this place and it’s really given him this incredible perspective of just how easy it is to actually live without all of this stuff. He spent every summer of his youth pumping water out of a wells and had no electricity.”

Auf de Maur, on the other hand, is a city girl, born and raised in Montreal, but she has nevertheless had a long-standing admiration for Canadian David Suzuki. The environmental educator was her pick when CBC took its nationwide poll in 2004 for the top 10 Greatest Canadians (he ended up at No. 5 out of 140,000 nominations) and she made her case for him on a CBC Television special. “The only one I could stand behind was the one who wants to save the planet,” she says.

But it’s Stone who has had the biggest impact on how she lives day-to-day. “He’s been a leader of it for me. I’ve learned so much,” she says. “It was in my instincts already and then it was really emphasized by him.”

The couple lives together in a solar-fuelled home in Montreal. “The fact that we don’t suck energy from the grid is pretty amazing. The incentives to use these green companies are there. It’s not properly publicized, but it’s so easy. The government subsidies are there and then there are green, one percent loans. Literally, there’s no excuse,” Auf der Maur says.

“You have to do research but someone like Tony — which is why I admire him so much — he will actually go online for hours and find out how easy it actually is. The philosophy that’s been really inspiring for me from him is that it’s worth paying the extra 10 percent to support an industry. So we did have to put $3000 down and we have this one percent loan, but the initial money you put down is worth it because you are supporting the big cause.

“Also, the omnipresent little things each of us can do,” she adds. “Even though it might not feel like something in the big picture, it really is, like buying locally, paying the couple of extra cents or dollars to be able to avoid the energy that it took for transportation. It’s simple but daily things that really will help balance the actual industry.”

To view the world premiere of Auf der Maur’s film, go to www.xmadmx.com

By Karen Bliss

Musician Juliana Hatfield, whose 10^th solo album, Peace And Love, comes out February 16, is a strong supporter of animal rights organizations and has become increasingly interested in the sato (street dog) problem in Puerto Rico.

“I’ve been researching it,” Hatfield tells Samaritanmag. “Puerto Rico has a very bad stray dog problem. The dogs are called ‘satos’ and this woman [Chantal Robles] in Puerto Rico started this shelter, Save A Sato [www.saveasato.org], to take in dogs from the street.

“There are many shelters and kind individuals on the island of Puerto Rico who rescue these dogs, many of which are abused and injured. People will see a dog in the street and they’ll hit it on purpose or sometimes dogs are poisoned or machete-ed because there are so many of them, they’re like a nuisance to people.”

Hatfield herself has adopted two satos, one from a local shelter in Massachusetts which died last summer; the other she rescued from a beach in Puerto Rico just this past weekend. “I will be taking him home soon,” she says. Tourists visiting Puerto Rico may adopt a stray and bring it back to the U.S. with no quaranteen needed.  The Save A Sato website contains details on the procedures.

“If you’re flying on American Airlines from Puerto Rico to certain cities in the United States, you can bring a dog with you in a crate [you can be a passenger escort for several dogs back to the partner shelters],” says Hatfield. “Shelters will put the dogs in the crates and you don’t have to pay anything and then the volunteer from the States-side shelter will come and pick them up.”

Julian Hatfield with two of her dogs; the black and white sato died last summer

Save A Sato is a non-profit organization dedicated to easing the suffering of Puerto Rico’s homeless and abused animals. They rescue satos from the streets and beaches, give them medical care, food and shelter. When they are healthy, they send them to one of their shelter partners for adoption into loving homes.

“We fly satos to Boston, Hartford, and New York City and only on American [Airlines],” says Donna Lenz, Save A Sato’s U.S. shelter and transport coordinator. “Save A Sato volunteers bring the dogs to the airport in San Juan. They meet the passenger at the American counter.  It’s a formality to check the dogs in, and an FAA requirement since 9/11.  It costs us $150 per kennel to fly the dogs.  When the dogs arrive in the U.S., our partner shelters are there to meet them.  I’ve done it many times myself and it’s a rewarding experience.” Lenz owns two satos and two gatos (street cats).

Donna Lenz's two satos

The Save A Sato web site contains information on the laws and regulations that need to be followed if you find a sato while visiting Puerto Rico that you would like to take home, as well as how to adopt one from within the United States (for Canadian readers, contact your local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals and inquire if adoption of satos is possible), including a list of shelters and rescue groups.   If you’re traveling to Puerto Rico and are interested in flying back with the satos, email donna@saveasato.org prior to coming to the island.

Hatfield is currently volunteering at a local shelter, which gets a lot of dogs from Puerto Rico, she says. She used to volunteer at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) in one of its adoption centres. “I’m very involved and interested in this whole cause of innocent, suffering animals — dogs mainly.”

By Karen Bliss

a shorn Jason Derülo

Jason Derülo, the rising U.S. pop artist whose “Whatcha Say” single has sold more than 4 million copies and received 30 million plays on his MySpace page — his album isn’t due until March 2 — has got behind the non-profit organization Locks of Love.

He put the scissors where his mouth is by cutting off his hair and donating it to the charity which provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 21 who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Locks of Love is based out of Florida but services the entire U.S. and Canada.

“I donated all my hair to Locks of Love. I had been growing it for four years. It was 14 inches long seven months ago,” Derülo tells Samaritanmag.  “I was watching an infomercial one day and I was really heartbroken about what I was seeing with the cancer patients so I wanted to figure out a way that I could help.  I just went online and found this organization and this one was based around children going through chemotherapy and those who have various diseases that cause hair loss.”

According to the site, www.locksoflove.org, these custom-fitted hair prosthetics are provided free of charge or on a sliding scale to children whose families meet the Locks of Love Board of Directors guidelines.

Derülo, 20, hasn’t met any of the kids who have received hair pieces through Locks of Love, but he does plan on continuing his association with organization, even though he doesn’t have any lengthy locks left to give.

“I always talk about it because it’s really important to me,” says Derülo. “I really have a weakness for people that are sick and people that are less fortunate.”

By Karen Bliss

American singer Adam Lambert is using his newfound spotlight more than just For Your Entertainment, as the title of his debut album suggests. The American Idol runner-up is putting his voice behind DonorsChoose.org, an online charity connecting you to classrooms in need.

“It’s something I started promoting over the summer and it’s basically to fund public school programs,” Lambert tells Samaritanmag. “I chose to emphasize the arts.

“The teachers go onto this site and describe what their project is that they need funding for. For example, a music teacher will go on and say, ‘I need a set of 35 headphones for my music production class for these kids.’ So you’ll know what you’re donating for, which is kind of satisfying for someone who is making a donation, and it’s very convenient as well.  And they’ll post little articles about how it went.”

The site is laid out really simply with details about the school, the project cost, and includes a goal bar showing how much money is needed and how much has been donated to date. One teacher needs two ELMO visual presenters for the classroom; another bus transportation for a 4-day Chicago culture trip for 80 students and four teachers scheduled for June.

Lambert’s role is “just bringing awareness to it,” he says. “I tweeted about it. I did some video content on it.  I held a little contest amongst the different fan groups that have developed for me over the last couple of months — who can raise the most money for DonorsChoose. It’s great because it’s helping kids and it’s helping the arts which is one of the first programs to get cut.”