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Archive for the 'charity' Tag

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Broadcom rescues Irvine schools’ science fair — gummy bears and all

March 1st, 2010, 3:56 pm by

It’s nice to know that Broadcom Corp. is investing locally to nudge kids into engineering careers. The Irvine chipmaker, which supplies chips for iPhones, DVRs and other consumer electronic gadgets, ponied up $7,000 for the Irvine School District’s 29th annual science fair to replace money lost due to budget cuts.

On top of the cash, Broadcom is sending over some of its engineers to hang out with students on Wednesday during the district’s annual science fair, said Broadcom spokeswoman Dana Brzozkiewicz.

Update: The $7,000 is approximately the same budget as prior years.

The science fair includes 384 projects from Irvine’s 30 elementary, middle and high school students. Some of the geekiest that Brzozkiewicz could find: “The Effect of Cell Phone Radiation on the Reproduction of the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae” and “An Analysis of Clock Rate and Thermal Scaling in Modern Multi-Core Microprocessors.” The yummiest? “The Diffusion of Gummy Bears.”

This is the first education grant from the new Broadcom Foundation, established to get young people interested in science, technology, engineering and math careers. The organization targets places where Broadcom employees work, like Irvine, where the bulk of the company’s 7,407 workers are based.

“With the state budget crisis necessitating cutbacks at the district level, funding for this year’s Science Fair was in jeopardy. We are so grateful to the Broadcom Foundation and the Irvine Public Schools Foundation for preserving this valuable educational opportunity,” said Dr. Gwen Gross, Superintendent of the Irvine Unified School District, in a statement.

The IUSD Science Fair is Wednesday, March 3, at Northwood High School, at 4515 Portola Parkway in Irvine. Projects can be viewed from noon to 6:30 p.m. An awards ceremony is at 6:45 p.m.

More on Orange County companies:

Posted in: news • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

WoW players raise $1.1 million for Make-A-Wish

February 17th, 2010, 12:02 am by

When Blizzard Entertainment asked gamers inside the World of Warcraft to help the Make-A-Wish Foundation, players responded.

By the thousands.

On Tuesday, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime handed a $1.11 million check to the charity that grants wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

“We’re very happy with the amount,” said Mike Morhaime, president of the Irvine game developer.

Was he surprised?

“We stopped making predictions about WoW a long time ago.”

The proceeds came from the sale of a Pandaren Monk, a virtual pet for the game. The creature sold for $10 between Nov. 4 and Dec. 31. Half the price was donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. That means 222,000 players bought the pet.

“I was shocked. That’s a lot of virtual pets,” said Frank Pearce, the game’s executive director.

Morhaime believes players wanted to help out the charity and not just score another virtual pet.

“If you read a lot of the comments in the forums, they indicated that people were really excited about Make-a-Wish and having the proceeds benefit the foundation,” Morhaime said.

In fact, Blizzard released two other virtual pets at the same time that weren’t as big sellers.

“People were definitely drawn to the Pandaren,” Pearce said.

The company has granted eight or nine wishes, including that of Ezra Chatterton, whose tale I documented starting with his May 2007 visit to Blizzard’s headquarters. Chatterton had brain cancer and played WoW with his father as an escape. His story inspired hundreds of readers and WoW players to write in and wish him the best. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Blizzard • Blizzard/Warcraft/Star Craft • • • • • • • | 11 Comments »

Boost Mobile turns Super Bowl ad into ringtone for charity

February 10th, 2010, 4:55 pm by

Boost Mobile won’t say how much it spent on its 30-second Super Bowl ad, which stars aging members of the 1985′s Chicago Bears redoing their “Super Bowl Shuffle.” But it has figured out how to help offset expenses: Sell the song as a 99-cent ringtone.


Boost Mobile’s Super Bowl 2010 ad

Why you might want to consider buying it? The Irvine prepaid wireless carrier is donating all proceeds to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, a nonprofit led by legendary coach Mike Ditka. The money goes to help former NFL players who aren’t doing very well.

Yes, that may not sound like much of a sob-story charity, but not every football player makes a million bucks. According to the Gridiron site, there are plenty of retired players who never got the benefits or pensions that players do today. Some lack basic services, such as health insurance. The charity lists a bunch of stories about players it has helped, including an unnamed former San Diego Charger who was living in his car.

You can buy the ringtone at www.boostmobile.com/shuffle.

Recent Boost Mobile stories:

Posted in: Cell phones • Gadgets • • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Free calls to Haiti, where to watch benefit concert

January 22nd, 2010, 5:13 pm by

Hope for Haiti NowWith all the rain in Orange County this week, it’s hard to believe that the devastating earthquake in Haiti was just last week.  Donations continued to pour in this week via text messages, plus there’s tonight’s “Hope for Haiti Now” benefit concert for the country.

Here’s a round up of what local TV and wireless services are doing:

Cox Communications: Waiving fees on international long-distance calls to Haiti (country code 509) through Feb. 28. This is retroactive to Jan. 12. The Cox Foundation also donated $250,000 to relief efforts. See press release.

Time Warner Cable: Waiving fees on international long-distance calls to Haiti through end of February, retroactive to Jan. 12. This applies only to direct-dial calls and not calls made through an operator. See press release.

AT&T: Waived fees on calls to Haiti numbers. Also letting customers watch  tonight’s “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon on their phones, U-verse TV or web. To watch on a phone, go to AT&T Mobile TV on MTV’s MediaFlo channel. U-verse subscribers can tune in to the major networks and MTV for the performance. Online, the event will be streamed at entertainment.att.net. Wireless customers can also donate $10 to Red Cross International Relief Fund by texting the word “HAITI” to 90999.

Sprint: Waiving texting fees to Haiti through Jan. 31. Customers donated $3.1 million to the effort, as of Jan. 19, by texting “HAITI” to 90999.

T-Mobile: Waiving international long-distance fees through Jan. 31 and dropping fee to text “HAITI” at 90999 to donate $10. Customers donated $3 million, as of Jan. 19. T-Mobile and its parent company have  also donated $250,000 to the effort.

Verizon: Waiving international long-distance calling fees plus offering a live broadcast of the relief concert to mobile users who have access to VCAST Video on their phones. See press release. Verizon users can also text the word “HAITI” to 90999. So far, the company has collected $4.84 million in text donations. Verizon also has a page dedicated to the Haiti relief effort with information on several organizations accepting donations. Click HERE.

Tonight’s benefit concert includes singers Madonna, Jay-Z, George Clooney and Haiti native Wyclef Jean. It airs at 8 p.m. tonight on the following channels:

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, CENTRIC, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, EPIX, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green, CNN en Español, HBO Latino and Canadian networks, including CBC Television, CTV, Global Television and MuchMusic.

Posted in: news • • • • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Are AT&T subscribers the most generous?

January 14th, 2010, 5:33 pm by

Earthquake in HaitiInteresting note: By simply texting the word “HAITI” to #90999, mobile phone customers everywhere donated $5.2 million to the Red Cross International Haiti earthquake relief effort. That’s in the past 24 hours, according to data from data obtained by AT&T from  mGive, a mobile donation site.

AT&T just let me know that of that amount, its own subscribers donated $2.63 million or half of the total.

Not that anyone is counting…

Sprint also announced that its subscribers have donated $882,000 to the relief effort. Sprint added that the money can be donated to more than just the Red Cross:

  • Text “HAITI” to “90999” to donate $10 on behalf of the American Red Cross.
  • Text “YELE” to “501501” to donate $5 on behalf of The Yéle Haiti Foundation.
  • Text “HAITI” to “20222” to donate $10 on behalf of The William J. Clinton Foundation.
  • Text “HAITI” to “85944” to donate $10 on behalf of the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
  • Text “HAITI” to “25383” to donate $5 on behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee.

Every mobile carrier has jumped into the game, telling subscribers that they too can donate $10 to the Red Cross. Some still charge for the actual text, but T-Mobile said it is waiving texting fees. The donation is charged to a user’s cell phone bill.

See earlier story:

Posted in: Cell phones • news • • • • • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

Donate to Haiti earthquake relief effort by texting

January 13th, 2010, 3:49 pm by

Earthquake in Haiti

UPDATE, Jan. 14, 2009: T-Mobile is also waiving international long-distance charges on calls to Haiti through Jan. 31. Customers in Haiti using roaming partner Voila and Digicel will also have charges waived. T-Mobile also is waiving fees to text a donation (see below) to help relief efforts.

————————–

At least two groups are accepting donations via text to support the Haiti relief effort after today’s earthquake.

By texting the word “HAITI” to 90999, $10 will be donated to Red Cross International Relief. One hundred percent of the money will be donated to the Red Cross. Standard text messaging rates may apply and the $10 will be charged to your phone bill, AT&T said. (Update: This is true for T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and other wireless carriers as well). Customers will get a confirmation message within minutes and must reply with ‘yes’ to complete the donation.

UPDATE: Here is the White House statement from the White House blog: Thoughts and Prayers for Haiti

Separately, musician and Haiti native Wyclef Jean of The Fugees fame, has set up a fund to help the people of Haiti. By texting “YELE” to 501501, $5 will be donated. You can also donate larger amounts at Yele’s website.

Read more Register coverage of the earthquake:

Posted in: news • • • • • • • | 7 Comments »

AT&T hands $328k check to O.C. Boy Scouts

September 22nd, 2009, 11:39 pm by

Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of AmericaIt’s nice to know that Orange County’s youth is benefiting from the company that will sell you service for an iPhone.

AT&T presented a $328,460 check to members of the Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America just before the Los Angeles Angels got ready to pound the New York Yankees in Anaheim.

The money was raised during the 11th annual AT&T Classic golf tournament. Proceeds each year go to Scoutreach, a program to help disadvantaged children participate in Boy Scouts. It also helps the Council’s Learning for Life program, which builds programs to help schools and youth organizations.

Since its 1998 inception, the tournament has raised $3.2 million in net proceeds — all of which has gone to the Orange County organization.

AT&T donates $325,000 to O.C.'s Boy Scouts.

Photo from AT&T: AT&T’s Matt Cave (third from left) and Richard Porras (second from left) present the Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America Les Baron (third from right), Ken Camp (fourth from right) and Orange County Boy Scouts Rory Strong (second from right) and Kenny Coulter (right) of Tustin Troop 243, alongside Angels player Matt Palmer, with a donation of $328,460 at an Angels Baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., September 22, 2009.  The funds will provide local youth a chance to participate in character-building and leadership opportunities.

“Without AT&T’s help and the fundraising efforts of this annual golf tournament and silent auction, these programs would be unable to sustain themselves, leaving more than 32,000 youth without the character-building and leadership opportunities that the Orange County Council provides,” Les Baron, scout executive, The Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America, said in a statement.

Posted in: news • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

Verizon turns selling TV service into school fundraiser

September 1st, 2009, 6:30 am by

Verizon enlists students, charities to sell TV service.In a novel approach to selling utility services, Verizon is enlisting the help of school children and charities.

Students or non-profit organizations can earn up to $65 for every new customer who signs up. The telecom is pitching its Verizon Velocity fundraising program as an alternative to selling cookies or candy bars door to door.

Students just spread the word, and a Verizon representative makes the sale. Schools get credit when a new customer mentions the school’s name or account. Although I doubt that Verizon is discouraging students from going door to door.

Verizon Products Donation
Amount
Verizon FiOS® Internet $25.00
Verizon High Speed Internet (768Kbps & 3.0Mbps) $25.00
DIRECTV® $20.00
Verizon FiOS® TV $20.00
Verizon Freedom Calling $10.00
Verizon Long Distance $10.00
Additional Line $10.00

Verizon Velocity partnered with the California State PTA and the program has been going on for a few months at some Orange County schools, including the William T. Newland Elementary School, Hope View Elementary School and Spring View Middle School, all in Huntington Beach. The local PTA gets the money. A few other O.C. schools and groups I spotted on the participant list hail from Westminster and Garden Grove.

Most of those schools happen to be in Verizon FiOS territory, which is a newish form of TV and Internet service over fiber-optic cables. But students can also sell Verizon’s bundled phone and Internet deal offering DirecTV service. Selling all three services — Internet, phone and TV — can get the school $65 per customer. Looks like wireless service is not included. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

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