Celebrity Charity Stories That May Surprise You

John Cena

Who knew tough guy John Cena from the WWE was such a softy? As one of the most sought-after jocks on the Make-a-Wish circuit, he recently granted his astounding 300th wish to a 7-year-old boy. Read that again. His 300th wish. John’s mission is to reach 1,000 wishes granted. He’s so popular, an entire conference room is dedicated to him at the foundation’s headquarters. Sure, the acting on WWE may be cringe-worthy, but this story should make your heart grow a few sizes.

Justin Bieber

So you hate his music. Maybe you hate him. He’s young, rich, dates hot chicks and sings to millions more. There’s a lot of be jealous of. But, last year he put his baby boa constrictor up for auction online, and the proceeds went to Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit group that has built more than 30 schools around the world. The twist on the story is that the buyer was an animal lover disgusted by Justin’s “willingness to use a pet for an awards ceremony and then discard it.” The snake was later donated to a zoo where it could be looked after properly, though, so everyone was happy.

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron auctioned herself off on a blind date for charity. That’s pretty cool. Unfortunately, she had a case of the kiss-and-tells and shared on a visit to “Conan,” that it was a bad idea. “They trick you with the ‘people are suffering thing.’ They trick you with the ‘you can help so many people.’ And before you know it, you’re at a restaurant with some stranger…rich people can be creeps, too! They can rape…It was a scary thing. And [the guy] was weird” (usmagazine.com).

See tons of sexy Charlize Theron photos and videos.

Petra Nemcova

Uber-hot model Petra Nemcova’s life hasn’t been all glitz and glamour. In 2004, she lost her fiancé Simon Atlee while they stayed in Thailand during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent tsunami. She wrote her memoir in 2005, Love Always, Petra, and all proceeds have gone to her tsunami relief charity, Happy Hearts Fund.

Daniel Craig

A variety of entertainers literary gave up their hats for a charity auction, including Annie Lennox, Sienna Miller, Susan Boyle and Daniel Craig, among others, to help London charity St. Mungo’s. While the charity sounds like something from Harry Potter, it helps people in a very real way, supporting homeless people to rebuild their lives.

Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman, most famous for his role as Ron Swanson on “Parks & Recreation,” is known for his mustache. And yet he shaved it off and put it up for auction in order to raise money for the pediatric cancer charity Because of Ezra. He reportedly had the mustache re-constructed after he shaved it, then glued onto a mold of his face and sealed behind museum-quality glass.

Cricket Team Wears Pink

Cricket, that game with the funny name they play over the pond, is no place for wussies. They play hard. So when the Glamorgan county cricketers in England took to the field wearing pink shirts it made quite a stir. But it was all in support of a Welsh charity in order to raise awareness for breast and prostate cancer.

Andrew Garfield

Andrew Garfield, the latest actor to be cast as Spider-Man, went on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and was asked to dance in order to raise money for the Worldwide Orphan’s Foundation. He asked, “You want me to humiliate myself for these kids?” -- and then proceeded to cut a rug, dancing the robot, Gangnam Style and Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ dance. All in all, he helped raise a cool $10K from partner Shutterfly.

Usher

Some people get their dogs from breeders, others from the pound. Usher got his at an auction supporting the education charity Pencils of Promise and plunked down $12K. He named his new golden-doodle puppy Poppy and wrote on Twitter: “All in the name of feline fun! It took me 2 years but I outbid everyone this year to bring Poppy home to Ush.” We think he meant “canine” instead of “feline,” but an A for effort anyway.

Oprah

Her magazine, her talk show, even her own network on cable -- what else can this trailblazing woman do? In 2007, with $40 million of her own money, she opened and funded the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa to provide educational and leadership opportunities for women in improvised backgrounds. Five years later, “100% of the class has been accepted into colleges, 10% going to the United States.” Oprah said, “You want to change the world, you change a girl’s life.”