Ever the material girl, Madonna is raising moola for Raising Malawi the best way she knows how: via Gucci. I'm always amazed how fashion shows and ritzy parties can raise so much money for serious causes. (Wouldn't it feel weird to wear diamonds, sip champagne and critique thousand-dollar handbags while simultaneously addressing issues of grave global poverty and suffering?) I guess good charities know how to go where the money is, though, and the non-profit that Madonna helped found is no exception.

[She] will headline a special gala and show on February 6, 2008. The event will benefit UNICEF and Raising Malawi, the charity the singer co-founded in 2006, and will focus on ending the poverty and hardship suffered by Malawi’s 1 million orphans, many of whom have had parents die from the AIDS pandemic.

To help with the event, which is expected to raise over $2 million for the cause, Madonna has enlisted the help of her many friends as co-chairs, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Lucy Liu, Salma Hayek, Tea Leoni, Adrien Brody, Arpad Busson, and Francois-Henri Pinault. (source)

Related causes: Global Extreme Poverty

HIV/AIDS

Millennium Development Goals