We were going to schools where kids didn’t have a lot of room or incentive to exercise. We started in Los Angeles with a couple of schools, with physical fitness goals - two hours after school, twice a week. So then the question was: Which high schoolers need help the most? That’s when we settled on Title I lower-income schools, a lot of single-parent homes. I settled on high school kids because it’s the last bridge before you cross into adulthood. I remember I said, “I want to prevent before cure,” all right? So that led me to youth - get them young before there’s a real problem where they can make their own self-reliant choices and better healthy choices for themselves.
How can I be of service? There’s a different gala every weekend.
So walk me through the very first moment you had that spark of this idea for your foundation. Often sounding like a motivational speaker at the top of his game, McConaughey discusses in depth how he’s built his foundation from the ground up, his attitudes toward giving, life and, sure, that whole running-for-Texas-governor speculation. “Just last week, somebody dropped out for a benefit, and he picked up the phone and called Kenny Chesney and was like, ‘We need you.’ “ “If I email him anything about the foundation, or I need him to do something, he’s like: ‘What do you need? Who do I call?’ ” Rotenberg says. While charitable efforts are commonplace in Hollywood (and the industry is, arguably, seldom given enough credit for such), what makes McConaughey so unique is the extreme extent to which the actor lives and breathes and engages so frequently and intensely in trying to help others with both his official organization and his spontaneous leaps into action. McConaughey also has become a philanthropic titan by regularly wrangling other benefit events, both annual and impromptu - such as his virtual We’re Texas concert in March that raised $7.7 million for victims of the devastating winter storm Uri, with the actor working his Rolodex to bring in talent ranging from Post Malone to Kelly Clarkson to Miranda Lambert. That’s how they’re always alive, that’s how you ‘just keep living.’ Make what they taught you immortal.” Show in your own life what they taught you. I say to the kids: If you want to talk to your teacher and they’re no longer here, do it anyway - say it out loud. But I also maintained my relationship with him, spiritually. “I thought my dad was invincible,” McConaughey says. It was a moment that reflected not just McConaughey’s personal dedication to his charitable foundation but also the origin of its title, inspired by the actor’s loss of his father in 1992. What was special about them? And can we double down on what that was to be a better son or a better daughter?” We can really concentrate on what we’re thankful to that teacher for.
“As hard as it is to lose somebody, it can really galvanize people and make us question what’s important in our lives. “It’s not constructive to say something isn’t fair and shouldn’t have happened,” he says. So he gave the teens not mere sympathy but a framework to turn their grief from helpless loss into something more empowering. “They just got a slap in the face, a reminder that life’s not permanent,” McConaughey says. Because you've pretty much given him everything under the sun (and the typical roses and chocolate won't cut it anymore).From Manufacturing Diapers to Celebrity Bake Sales: How Three Nonprofits Pivoted During the Pandemic here are all the reasons why you don't have to get each other anything. So you go back and forth between tabs online, trying to decide whether to buy a gift box from Harry’s (big beard + big kiss = no fun), or a pair of hockey tickets. You want your gift to show that you care, but you definitely don’t want to get anything too cheesy. No purchase necessary.īecause, let’s face it, one of the worst things about Valentine’s Day is deciding what to get your partner. This V-Day, why not shake things up a bit? Instead of the typical dark chocolate, red roses, and black lacy underwear, simply vow to continue to nurture your relationship as you’ve already been doing all these years. You’ve been together for so long, gift giving is no longer necessary. After almost a month of your friends throwing suggestions your way and quietly browsing the hundreds of Valentine’s Day gift guides that float around the Internet, you suddenly realize something: the reason it’s so hard to find your mate a gift is because no physical object can express how much he means to you. Cupid might have shot you with his bow, but unfortunately gift-giving expertise wasn't included in the deal. February 14 is almost here, and you have no idea what to get your significant other for Valentine's Day.