Save the World Awards Given
Often, award shows bring to mind glitzy gowns, egotistical Hollywood elite and a driving need to be the bestwhether that best is for acting, writing, or even science. But the first annual Save the World Awards is out to change all that.
It was started by the humanitarian group, World Award Associates, which began in 2000 with Nobel Prize winner and Soviet politician Mikhail Gorbachev as its founding president. The award show was televised in over 50 countries on July 24. Actress Andie McDowell hosted the event from Zwentendorf, Austria.
The Save the World awards are given to "organizations and people who promote human welfare or devote themselves to the conservation of the planet" in each of the following categories: climate, hunger & poverty, water, tolerance, energy, peace & security, health, democracy and civil society, dignity, education, pollution and biodiversity.
This year's list of winners included recently deceased performer Michael Jackson. The King of Pop was posthumously awarded for his long-standing support of multiple charitable groups. His brother, Jermaine, accepted the award and sang "Smile," one of Michael's favorite songs.
SOS Children's Village was also honored. According to their Web site, SOS Children's Village is "an international non-governmental social development organization that has been active in the field of children's rights and committed to children's needs and concerns since 1949." The organization focuses as well "on family-based, long-term care of children who can no longer grow up with their biological families."
SOS's president, Helmut Kutin, accepted the award. In a press release, he said:
"I would like to thank you for acknowledging our decades of work in this way, particularly on behalf of all the children and young people, our staff members and on behalf of our friends and patrons. [This award] should reassure us that we are all collectively capable of looking out for each other and of standing up against violence, neglect, indifference and ostracism. This award drives us on, on the occasion of our 60th anniversary, to carry on building a society in which children are treated well and to create conditions, which will enable children all over the world to have a safe and secure upbringing in a respectful and loving environment with others. Only those who have grown up in peace are capable of passing peace on to others."
Environmental protection agency Greenpeace and inner city sports program the Carl Lewis Foundation were also honored.