Digital Journal — Nearly 1,000 stars from music, TV, movies and theatre are selling off their goods to help fight AIDS.
“Bid 2 Beat AIDS” is a massive eBay auction set to begin on World AIDS Day, beginning December 1, 2005 at 3pm (EST).
Thousands of unique collectibles autographed by the hottest celebrities are up for grabs, with all proceeds going to LIFEbeat, a charity run by the music industry that educates youth on HIV/AIDS prevention.
Some of the most interesting items set to be auctioned off include: a Vespa signed by Kanye West; a podium from the MTV Movie Awards signed by Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Nicole Kidman and others; one of Elton John’s hats; a signed jogging suit worn by J-Lo; signed guitars from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and Tim McGraw; gold records from No Doubt and Coldplay; and books signed by Madonna, Brooke Shields and 50 Cent.
There’s even a signed bottle of Lindsay Lohan Heinz Ketchup, plus additional items from George Lucas, U2, Orlando Bloom, Green Day, Joni Mitchell, Yoko Ono, Britney Spears, Pamela Anderson, Shania Twain, Justin Timberlake, The Simpsons and hundreds more.
World AIDS Day began in 1988 as a way of raising awareness about the virus. Sub-Saharan Africa has been the worst hit area for the spread of AIDS, with three-quarters of all AIDS-related deaths occurring in the region. On the entire continent of Africa, AIDS kills 10 times more people than war and conflict.
AIDS only appeared on the United Nations Security Council agenda for the first time in the year 2000. UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) estimates that at the end of 2004, there were 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children living with AIDS. Of these, 95 per cent were living in developing nations.
It is estimated that five people around the world die of AIDS every minute.
