via popcrunch.com and babble.com

Last night CGG caught up with 360 news reporter Anderson Cooper and Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden at UNICEF's "Believe in Zero" campaign benefit dinner. We even got to see CGG friend and Broadway star Adam Kantor sing with his group-- Broadway in South Africa. They sang songs inspired by letters written to the band by underprivileged children in South Africa.

The “Believe in Zero” campaign is working towards the goal of zero children dying from completely preventable diseases like malaria and measles, unclean water, a lack of safe shelter, or malnutrition. This year, the Obama administration gave a whopping $130 million to UNICEF to fund this project- more any administration has ever given to the program. Go-bama!

Anderson Cooper gave an impassioned speech at the event and encouraged the audience not to "ignore the statistics" about death and conflict abroad, but to get out of the United States and learn about the issues. He spoke about his horrific experience in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, calling the conflict, "a war on women...where rape is a weapon of war." His desire to expose these stories about violence against women and young girls have also increased funding for UNICEF.

After the speeches, CGG spoke one-on-one with Joel Madden. Joel is an advocate for the "Tap Project" and he told us that he wants young people to "get out of [their] own worlds" and learn about the water crisis in the developing world. He spoke earnestly, explaining, "these kids are just like us...if kids were dying [from unclean water] in America, we would be doing something about it."

It was so inspiring to see reporters, singers, and advocates all coming together for the cause! You can help children in other countries by supporting the global child survival act and by endorsing charities like “Keep a Child Alive.” Take the advice of Anderson and Joel and travel aboard to learn more about these issues first hand. Tell us what you think—comment below!

By CGG contributing reporter Shamsa Mangalji