Today! Design For Humanity in LA
Sorry I’ve been away on a much needed mini-vacation.
But I’m back in time to help get the word about about Design for Humanity a Billabong charity event that is taking place today on thebacklot of Paramount Studios in Hollywood!
Check out this video that explains more:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/23057389
Now in its 5th year, Design For Humanity is Billabong’s charitable initiative which has become an opportunity not only for Billabong but for retailers, athletes, celebrities, artists and ultimately attendees to give back.All proceeds are being donated to The VH1 Save the Music Foundation who are dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in public schools. To date, the Foundation has provided more than $47 million in new musical instruments to 1,750 public schools in more than 100 cities, impacting the lives of over 1.6 million children.
So if you’re in the LA area today and want to help out and check out an awesome event head to Design for Humanity and look for me!
JL
Growing A New Generation Of Altruistic Young People
People often ask about our tagline ” Growing a generation of altruistic young people.”
Besides the fact that I enjoy using fancy words like altruistic, the tagline speaks to our greater purpose as an organization. On the surface of things, we are a private party company. But the goal of The Beautiful People LA is so much more than just throwing amazing events and contributing the money our parties raise to various charitable organizations.
Our overall goal is to do what our tagline suggest and grow or create from scratch a new generation of young people (Specifically those who are under 25) who think about charity differently from your average 25 year old. Most people know the statistics about people under 25′s involvement with charity. In some studies it has been estimated that 8 out of 9 young people have never volunteered a day in their life, without some sort of court mandating it.
So in addition to throwing what are considered to be the best and most exclusive parties in Los Angeles, we make sure that at each of our events, we have speakers who talk about ways people can get involved with charities on a local level. We make it a point at every one of our parties to educate the attendees that it’s not that hard to give back. It doesn’t have to become some sort of second job, but can in fact be something that you enjoy that also helps out your community and the larger causes such as Breast Cancer Awareness that we donate to at our events.
This is how we attempt to grow a new generation of altruistic young people.
Recycle!
One of the easiest ways you can give back and help the World is by the simple act of recycling.
You don’t even need to get super hardcore about it, and become one of those nerds who separate their recycleables into super specific sub categories like ” Egg Shells, Coffee Grinds, Aluminum cases, Aluminum cans, Plastic cups, Plastic Wrap, Synthetic string” and you get the idea.
Instead if you live in the great state of California, all you need to do is separate your recyclables: Your plastics, Aluminum, Tin Cans, and most glass products. Then you just put them into a different trash and usually blue trash can.
Again it’s really not that hard!
If you care at all about keeping the Earth’s resources in tact for the next generation, especially if you have kids and want them to be able to afford plastic bottles, recycling makes sense.
If you want to be really ambitious, you can do what my friend Luke did and start a neighborhood recycling program like the one he started in the Pacific Palisades area. The program Luke started is very simple, as a local business owner, he was creating a lot of trash and potential recyclables as were his neighbors in the shopping center he worked in. So Luke had the bright idea of going around to his neighbors and asking if they had any recyclables or if he could take their plastics, aluminum, and glass stuff to be recycled. All the business owners were happy to feel like they were doing their part and even happier to have Luke sort their trash. At last count Luke is providing recycling help to over 30 different local businesses and is able to donate the small amount brought in by his recycling to his favorite charities.
That’s what I call a win-win and it’s something everyone out there can start doing today!
JL
The Black-White And Pink Ball
The Black/White and Pink ball is one of our signature events at The Beautiful People LA.
The Black/White and Pink ball is a 1920′s themed party where everyone who is invited must be dressed in Black or White. We encourage our attendees to get creative! The Black White and Pink Ball is a great opportunity to look back into the past for ideas while at the same time learning what you can do to help women all around the world in the future.
The Pink part of the Black and White ball refers to the fact that this Ball, is our Breast Cancer Awareness event. I’ve written in the past about how important and personal a cause Breast Cancer Awareness is to me, this party is my opportunity to really make sure that we help spread awareness and raise money for this very worthy cause.
In the past The Black White and Pink Ball has been our most popular event. In addition to our theme and getting to see everyone else’s costume. The ball has a ton of surprises! We always make sure to select a location that is historical and helps add a real authentic flair to the night. Previous sites of the Black White and Pink ball have been held at The Biltmore in Miami and Phoenix, as well as the Chelsea Savoy hotel in New York. We are keeping the location of this year’s Black White and Pink Ball under wraps for a few more weeks, but I can tell you this year looks to be our best location ever!
The Black White and Pink Ball is limited to 100 people so be sure to check out BeautifulPeopleLA.com for application information.
Our Causes: Breast Cancer Awareness
Growing up in a household with 3 sisters, I spent a lot of time around women.
My mom also had a lot of female friends, whom I would accompany her to see. One of these friends was a remarkable woman named Jeanie Lowell. Jeanie was a lawyer by profession, but lived in a beautiful home in the heart of Topanga Canyon. For those unfamiliar with Los Angeles, Topanga is a hippie central known for it’s laid back non judgemental attitude, community and spirit of the 60s. My mom would sit and talk with Jeannie for hours while I wandered the canyons outside.
When I was about 11 Jeannie was diagnosed with Breast cancer.
Jeannie did not lose her spirit. As she became too sick to work, she discovered a new passion of hers; creating fused glass artwork. She even bought a professional kiln for her basement, where my mother would help her create these amazingly beautiful pieces.
Jeannie fought for almost 4 years. I remember watching her deteriorate physically until I could no longer stand going over there. I remember how sad my Mom was the day she finally passed away. And I remember being terrified that my Mom or my sister or later my fiancee’ would get the same terrible disease, that over 200 thousand women suffered from in the United States alone in the most recent studies.
That’s why Beautiful People LA will ALWAYS support The National Breast Cancer Foundation: http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/.
In fact every year we make sure one of our quarterly events is dedicated specifically to raising money, not just for research, but for awareness. There’s a lot of thing women can do to reduce their risk and not enough girls are educated about them.
JL
Our Causes Part 1- Hurricane Katrina Victims
Many of us have heard the idea that charity starts at home.
However as a country, we clearly have not been living by this ideal concerning the city of New Orleans.
I find it very frustrating that we as a country, are engaged in a ton of foreign relief with a ton of different countries, yet we have not fully rebuilt New Orleans nor have we fully dealt with the families that were affected by the tragedy.
At Beautiful People LA, we try to bring up the victims of Katrina as much as possible to let them know that not everyone has forgotten about them, and that there are people who still want to see the once great city of New Orleans brought back to life.
While we give back in our own unique way at BPLA, we recognize that it is nowhere near enough and we encourage all of our fans and friends to take a few moments to see what else you can do to give back to our fellow countrymen who lost everything.
It is in this spirit that I want to leave you with a list of links to resources about how you can help those still in need 6 years after the terrible storm hit coast.
First we have a great resource site for those interested in giving charitable donations. If you do make a cash donation, please send an email to Jon@BeautifulPeopleLA and we will match it dollar for dollar up to $5,000.
The link is: http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/hurricane_katrina.html
And secondly we have a link about how charities have screwed up in New Orleans and how we can avoid making these mistakes in the future: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=katrina.main
Thanks for reading and helping.
Jon Lee: CEO Beautiful People LA
Jon’s Princesses
Want To Attend Every Beautiful People Event in First Class Style?
Jon’s Princesses are Waiting For You.
Jon’s Princesses are among the most beautiful, interesting, and charitable women in the World. This special group of 10-15 girls attend all of the Beautiful People LA (BPLA) Events across the World in First Class style.
In addition to attending all the events in first class style the Princesses co-host certain parties with Jon.
The Princesses are a safe environment for girls to party in, which means we make sure that every Princess has a limo ride to and from the events, Champagne, a Red Carpet entrance and access to the Official Pre and After Parties. Without dealing with the creepers, players, and weirdos at most bars and clubs.
Princesses, have the opportunity to meet amazing people! The Princesses get a chance to mingle at every party with a variety of eligible, attractive and interesting people of both sexes.
Current Princess Gina C says:
“ The Princesses was the best thing to ever happen to my social life! All of the girls are so cool and I feel like I’ve met half my best friends through here.”
The Princesses offer a great opportunity for exposure for your modeling or acting career! There are a lot of PR Opportunities related to the Beautiful People LA in Newspapers, Radio and TV, as a result many women have used the Princesses as their springboard to success in acting, modeling and hosting.
To become a Princess, your must have applied to at least 1 Beautiful People LA event and been accepted.
If you want to be considered for the most exclusive, fun group in Charity, send a 1 page long letter explaining why you think you would make a good Princess and a current photo to Princesses@BeautifulPeopleLA.
We generally only add 3 Princesses per party, so be sure to apply soon to be considered for our next event!
Our Goals
Hey there,
A lot of people have questions about who we are and what we do, so I’ll be providing some answers to these questions, periodically on the blog here, starting today with our goals.
The Beautiful People LA is determined to donate at least 10 million dollars to “our causes”, specifically the victims of Hurricane Katrina still living in the New Orleans area, The National Breast Cancer Foundation, and The World Wildlife Federation.
More important than the money we raise though, is the growing of a generation of altruistic minded young people. Currently those under 35 are the most underrepresented group when it comes to giving back. BPLA is determined to help curb this lack of social mindedness amongst our young people.
It is our desire to see charity work become more important, interesting, fun and yes even glamorous to today’s generation. If we can change the perception around charity work, we can make a real and dramatic change in the world.
We imagine a world where everyone gives back and helps those less fortunate than themselves. We imagine a world where everyone is socially conscious and has informed opinions on various problems in the world and what should be done about them. We imagine a world where people wonder not just about where they are going to go on a Friday night but what they will be supporting as well. But unfortuantely imagination alone is not enough to change the world.
We need your help! In everything from putting together consciousness groups to staffing and funding our events, BPLA relies on people just like you deciding once and for all to make the decision to give back.
Make that decision today by emailing Jon at Beautifulpeoplela.com to see how you can help today!
“New Charity”
We throw this term around a lot at Beautiful People LA, but to a lot of people who find our site for the first time, you may not understand what the ” New Charity” movement is all about.
New Charity is a term I coined when I started the BPLA in 2007. At the time we were in the beginnng stages of what would eventually come to be called the “New Media”. This of course refers to the proliferation of blogs, facebook feeds, and twitter as a new way to both create and receive news. Even back then people were beginning to learn that the traditional ways of getting news out there were changing radically.
New Charity applies the same thinking and ideas to Charity work.
The days where people look forward to giving back to their community, country and fellow man are long gone. Replaced instead by an MTV culture of me first materialism. Appealing to the youth of our nation to give something back, is a cry that falls on almost entirely deaf ears.
Thus “New Charity” was born.
“New Charity” seeks to appeal to the self interest of this generation, in order to grow a group of altruistic young people between the ages of 21-30. In other words new charity aims to make giving back cool, and something young people look forward to(like our parties). Which is why BPLA is set up the way it is. With New Charity, we understand that “Buzz” is everything and that if no one wants to attend your events, no one is going to care about your causes.
We also understand that the communications scene has shifted completely in the last 2-3 years. Social Networking has made it easier than ever to reach out and HELP someone.
When the disaster struck in Japan and the Red Cross immediately let people send in donations via text messages, that was New Charity at work. When Viral videos bring our attention to the horrible living conditions for women in the Middle East, New Charity is at work. And lastly when BPLA holds our admittedly over the top parties we are using new charity to reach the most important generation.
The next one.
Because without a next generation of people who care, our world will be in serious trouble.
Beautiful People LA
We’re Hiring!!!!
This is what you have been looking for- an exciting, fun and relaxed atmosphere where you can work just a few hours a week recruiting other girls like yourself to exclusive Charity events full of people who are beautiful inside and out.
It’s a dream job for any girl between 21-35 who’s interested in networking and party-planning-with great pay, unlimited upside potential and a chance to help put together and attend the most exclusive Charity events in Los Angeles with other beautiful women, eligible men and maybe even a few celebrities.
Plus you’ll be working with other attractive, social, and fun intelligent girls just like yourself who are committed not only to throwing the best events LA has ever seen, but also to growing a new generation of altruistic minded people who think charity is cool!
I am looking for 3 girls to develop into my top Recruiters as the Organization grows and demand for our events increases. We have very high standards and expect all girls you recruit to be as beautiful inside as they are on the outside. Experience helps, but what I am most interested in is personality. You have to be the kind of girl who can easily start conversations with strangers and isn’t afraid to get contact information from anyone!
Think Samantha from Sex and The City.
Great Jobs like this don’t come around very often, so don’t let this opportunity slip by.
Send me a recent photo and 2 paragraphs explaining why you would be good for the job to Jon@BeautifulPeopleLA.com
