Do Something Today:
"Collect cans to help the U.S. food shortages "

Cause News
Teens For Jeans is fighting teen homelessness
Do Something and Aeropostale need your help! Did you know that one-third of all homeless in the US are under the age of 18? Well, this January we’ll be working together to launch a nationwide drive to collect jeans for homeless teens and we want YOU to decide what organizations will receive the donations.

Just email teensforjeans@dosomething.org with the name and phone number of a great homeless shelter or charity in your area, and if it meets the requirements we’ll make sure it gets some jeans! So start going through your closet and from January 22nd to February 10th, you can drop your gently-worn jeans at any Aeropostale location. Plus, you’ll get a coupon for an additional 20% off your next purchase of a new pair of jeans!
teensforjeans@dosomething.org

Emergency Canned Food Drive for National Food Shortage
America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization, is projecting an immediate food shortage of 15 million pounds (that’s 11.7 million meals!) by the end of the year. There is an urgent call for national support to help secure and distribute a minimum of 15 million pounds of food before the end of the year to help millions of Americans at risk of hunger during this holiday season.

What CAN you do? Help raise 1 million cans by New Year's. Last year 79 schools in 35 states participated in the 2006 Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive raising 1.3 million cans! Columbus High School of Iowa collected a total of 210,167 cans through incentives including putting the teachers on the roof of the school to raise more cans. This year's Canned Food Drive winner will win a $500 grant to fight hunger in their area.
Register for this year's drive || Add the Facebook Canned Food Drive Application

U.N Climate Conference
U.N. Climate Conference (December 3rd – 14th): Faced with a recent detailed report of the potentially devastating effects of global warming, delegates from nearly 190 nations opened the two-week conference with pleas for a new climate pact.
http://www.dosomething.org/causes/global_warming

Bangladesh Cyclone
Days after a cyclone ravaged Bangladesh, the country is still reeling. This past weekend hundreds of hungry cyclone victims were hurled into a river when the bridge they were crossing collapsed under their weight. They were stampeding toward a relief center in search of food and shelter. Tropical Cyclone Sidr has killed more than 3,100 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

CelebsGoneGood
Gossip Girl Cast Attends Teddy Bear Ball
Stars of Gossip Girl—Blake Lively, Chase Crawford, and Leighton Meester—were on hand at The Help Group’s Teddy Bear Ball in Beverly Hills on Monday. The young do gooders showed up to the gala in La-La land to support children with disabilities. The Help Group is a nonprofit organization that helps children with special needs related to autism, Asperger’s disorder, ADHD, mental retardation, and emotional problems. At the heart of its mission, The Help Group has a commitment to helping young people fulfill their potential. The trio honored Dawn Ostroff, President of Entertainment for Gossip Girl’s CW network, with the Help Humanitarian Award.

Grants
Boy Walks 280 Miles for Homeless Kids
(Tallahassee, Fl) – Zach Bonner, a 10-year-old Florida boy, walked 280 miles to bring attention to the plight of homeless kids. In October, Zach won a $500 Do Something Grant for his walk to help homeless youth. He started his walk on November 2nd and completed the final mile on Monday, November 26th, walking 11 to 16 miles a day, for 23 days. Zach planned his walk shortly after hearing that Congress had declared November as National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. He recruited people to walk part of the trek with him and raised approximately $25,000 in donations and supplies for the cause. Zach says he’s been involved in charitable work virtually all his life.

Zach caught the “charity bug” at age six when he volunteered to help after Hurricane Charley. Since then he’s made over 700 backpacks for homeless and street kids, including a personal hygiene kit, candy, and a small toy; and helped raise 27 truckloads worth of school supplies, games and new toys for Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana. He even started his own not for profit, Little Red Wagon Foundation, to help children in distressed situations. Zach has received numerous awards for his efforts including a Points of Light Award from Jeb Bush and a President’s Service Award from President George Bush himself. We’re inspired to see that he completed his project, and look forward to seeing what innovative way he’ll come up with next to help change the world around him.

Boston Latin School wins the Keyspan Sustainability Competition
Over fifty teenage members of Boston Latin School’s Youth CAN (Climate Action Network) designed and led a school-wide sustainability initiative this October.   Several highlights of their efforts are:

• A school-wide campaign encouraging students and teachers to turn off lights, computers and appliances when not in use. 
• Changing the original school policy that kept computers on 24/7, saving over 33,6oo hours of energy.
• Initiating paper recycling competition between grades that resulted in nearly 1780 pounds of recycled paper. 
• Setting up a student run recycling program in their cafeteria, which resulted in the collection of over 2000 cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles and Styrofoam lunch trays.
• A school-wide awareness campaign that included the creation and broadcasting of 7 original Public Service Announcements and 45 presentations to educate their fellow students on the need to reduce, reuse and recycle. The videos can be found at www.blsyouthcan.org. 
• A school-wide effort to raise individual awareness by encouraging students to take a carbon output quiz.  Over 380 students  took the quiz.
• 270 students signed the “Think Outside the Bottle” pledge, to say they would drink tap water in reusable bottles instead of buying new water bottles every day.
• Student-organized fundraising for solar panels.

Read more about this school || http://www.dosomething.org/node/41546