Bette Midler has established a name for herself in entertainment, and this time, she wants to make her mark on the environment. She founded an organization called New York Restoration Project, and she aims to plant 1 million trees in NYC by the year 2017. She’s reached the 250,000 mark so far. Go, Bette!!!

Literally! The musical icon was in Malawi recently to help with the building of a girls’ school, which she is sponsoring. She literally “helped” by putting her muscles to good use – as you can see in that picture (thanks to TMZ). Now tell me you can’t help but admire this woman!

The Jonas Brothers are scoring brownie points one after the other. This time, they played pro kickball (yeah there is such a thing) at the event Kick for Change. Beneficiaries are Change for the Children Foundation and Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program.

It’s like a Bono humanitarian concert for teens and tweens. We Day is an annual youth empowered rally by Free The Children, an organization that aims to fight child labor. This year, We Day started out in two different venues and dates in Canada—September 29 at Vancouver’s GM Place and October 5 at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. The third and final set will be on November 5 at the Hamilton Place.

Some 16,000 students and teachers attended the musical event. Guest performers such as The Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, Hedley and dancers from So You Think You Can Dance Canada were received with ear-splitting cheers from the crowd.

The event wasn’t just about a cool concert. The kids and teens in attendance were in full support of the organization’s cause—to make tangible actions that make a better world, especially for children. Humanitarians, environmentalists, motivational speakers and politicians were greeted like rockstars at the event.

SOS call: The Jonas Brothers made a surprise appearance.

Justin Bieber performed the acoustic version of his hit “One Time” at We Day.

“We share with our team and we truly believe it’s not about us. It’s about the issues and we share that with all the young people,” said Marc Kielburger, one of the founders of Free The Children. “We’re just happy that the young people feel that it’s really cool to get socially engaged and what we’re fighting most of all is we’re fighting apathy.”

“Everyday action is our message and people respond to that message because they’re really searching to bring about a positive change in this world,” added co-founder Craig Kielburger.

With the success of the rally, it looks like the kids heard the message loud and clear.

For more info about helping fight child labor, visit www.freethechildren.com.

You may not think it, but rapper Ludacris has been involved in good work – lots of it. He is actually going to be honored in November by Big “O” Youth Educational Dream Foundation, for his efforts to raise funds and awareness for music and arts programs for children. Good on ya!

Kate Gosselin went to the “Stars, Stripes and Skates ICEtravaganza” in Connecticut this weekend, offering her services as an announcer for one of the skaters. She says that she is doing great and pointed out that volunteering is something we should all do. No wonder the people at the rink cheered her on!

The Philippines is currently recovering from a disaster far worse than Hurricane Katrina. Tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana) swept through Manila and 25 Luzon provinces, leaving the Philippines in a state of calamity.

Unlike the disaster that hit New Orleans in August 2005, the flooding and destruction that Ketsana brought to the Philippines is more extensive than the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. Read a related article here.

Thanks to twitter and facebook, Hollywood celebrities have expressed their sympathies and called on their fellow Americans to help the Filipino victims.

Singer Josh Groban tweeted: “My heart goes out to my friends in the Philippines.”

Couple Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher called on their fans to send donations: “typhoon victims in Philippines in dire need of food/clothng. Call the American Red Cross to help. 18004357669”

Teen sensation Demi Lovato also tweeted: “Come on guys, the Red Cross is a beautiful thing and the Philippines need OUR help.. Let’s put it to good use and make our country proud.”

Other celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Alyssa Milano, Ricky Martin, Marie Digby, Michelle Branch, and Pete Wentz have also called on their fans and friends to help out.

The number of victims has risen to over 300,000 with a death count of over 50. If you want to help out, visit the following sites:

www.philippineaid.com
www.TXTPower.org
www.redcross.org
www.redcross.org.ph

Not her own hunger, but that of those in need. Jenny McCarthy is teaming up with Weight Watchers to help feed families and children. The campaign is dubbed Lose for Good, and the organization looking to donate up to $1M.

Actor-singer-comedian Jamie Foxx is currently on his “Blame It” tour, and two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, he brought laughter to the people of New Orleans. Part of the proceeds of the concert will be donated to Brad Pitt’s foundation, Make It Right.

The American Badass is back, for a really good cause. Kid Rock is going to headline the charity concert “Music Has Power,” which is meant to benefit the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in NYC on Sept. 2. This is a rare appearance for the whole band – all the more reason to go watch!

Did you know that this pretty little girl has a charitable organization of her own? She has this program called Blessings in a Backpack, and she brought it over to Colombia to distribute 3,000 backpacks full of food to the poor children. She is also helping out with the vaccination program that is being held in the city.

Diva Barbara Streisand is engaging in a different kind of gig these days: she is auctioning off some of her personal items for charitable purposes. If you fancy a wicker chair of hers, or maybe one of her designer dresses, then gear up for this auction. The auction is slated to be held on October 17-18 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Streisand Foundation will benefit from the proceeds.