In August Brad Pitt talked about his plans to build houses in New Orleans, and this morning he was back on The Today Show with an update dressed in pink. He and Angelina were in NO for the weekend to promote Make it Right NOLA and help set up pink structures as placeholders for the new homes, some of which he says will be ready by the end of the Summer. He pledged $5 million of his money, and as part of the program, Brad is hoping that people will adopt homes or make smaller donations for eco-friendly household objects as Christmas gifts. When Ann Curry asked why Americans should support his effort, Brad said,
"I'm not much of a salesman. I can't tell people — either you're moved or you're not. But for me, I think of a father who once had a home here, and raising my kids here and if I lost everything and had no way to return, how that would make me feel. And then the fact that other Americans would come in and help me out and help create a path for me to come back to my roots, to my home, would mean everything to me, would restore my faith in humanity."
Brad may not consider himself a salesman, but we think his dedication to this good cause will touch more than a few hearts. To donate or learn more about the project, check out the organization's website.
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Figleaves
love pink..thats nice
1give up the good work Bradley
2yay, for New Orleans
3Kudos Brad, especially when it is so easy to get lost in the saturation of commercials and dodads and gadgets, etc, during the holiday season.
4It's great to see a celeb put their time and money to a good cause like this. He's really committed to the project.
5PR PR PR PR
6HATE THIS FAMILY
just go away now
families are getting their homes back, but i guess since its not tommy girl then its PR
7Nice to see a celebrity doing for others, instead of just talking about doing for others.
8Can this man get any sweeter. I'm getting a toothache.
9Make It Right was the charity I chose to make my holiday donation to... I'm thrilled he's getting more of the word out about this organization.
10bella, we here at popsugar to don't attack other posters
11Katrina happened in August 2005. It is now December 2007, has Brad completed ANY houses yet?
bella1101, be nice! I can't stand Brangelina either.
12@ bella1101 and blob
O(n)T: You can buy Brad's hat from the website as a way to make a donation.
13twistersister can u post that link, i want to donate to the cause
14Didn't he work with Habitat for Humanity and spend some time building houses earlier this year... so yea, I guess he did finish some houses already.
I think this is a separate organization where he recruited the architects to design suitable housing that will withstand some flooding. It takes awhile to get the ball rolling from scratch to a neighborhood of finished homes, but if you watch the video, he anticipates having families in those homes by next summer.
15No matter what you think about Brad Pitt, can't people have a friggin heart help someone out? I've been down to the 9th Ward and it is really depressing. It looks like a war zone. At least he is using his celebrity to try to bring some attention to New Orleans.
16I really like that Brad is trying to make a difference, it says a lot about his character.
17Just do it already dude.
18Why is he so damn perfect?
19Where can I find me one of those?
lol
He's been using his celebrity for TWO years and I've yet to see a photo of Brad in front of a completed house. It's not like he's devoting his life to this project - it's just something to do between making movies, jetting around the world with Mangie & kids, and buying babies. HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA you know it's true.
20I've seen him building houses down there, months ago. So what if he didn't return for a finished house photo op for the tabloids. Even doing this part time places his way above celebs who focus on themselves and partying. He did just drop $5 million of his own dollars, and no matter how wealthy one is, that's some serious cash to part with.
21OHKAYY
22for all you who are complaining, here goes:
i personalyy live in new orleans
and this all just happened a little while ago
so yeahh of course their not done
again THIS WAS VERY RECENT
i think this is great what hes doing
i have always liked him as a person and an actor
and this just adds to it
so if you want to B**ch about this
come down here yourself and see everything
so everyone just chill
before i go 504 on your azz3s
Celebrity bashers - meh. Whiny crybabies if celebs don't do good, whiny crybabies if celebs do good. Guess whiners have to do something with their lives and dissing other people is the easiest thing to do.
23So, have any of you built a 1200-ft. 3BR house on stilts which fit safety & environmental standards lately? Gotten anything close to building a home? Closest I got was mixing & pouring a cement floor.
I've got 80 y.o. friends, a retired professional couple who aren't rich but who have some resources & insurance, in Biloxi, MS. They, their 3 adult children & dog clung to a tree for 9 hours while their house was destroyed. I visited them in October, they had just moved into their rebuilt house 2 months before.
So no, houses aren't built overnight (that's only on Extreme
Makeover) even if all the materials & construction workers are available - which they're not. I believe it was July when Brad & Global Green broke ground in Holy Cross. That's nowhere near enough time to finish a house. Heck, it took us almost a year to get rid of termites & dry rot.
If YOU'RE so impatient, why don't you go to New Orleans and show them how it's done? Be sure to let us at popsugar know when you've finished a house.
24Amazing, isn't it, some people can never just be applauded for trying to help others. He does NOT have to do this. Anyway I think it's great that he is still helping out after so many others have walked away. Five MILLION dollars of your own money is nothing to laugh at! He is one of the few I can think of who gave more than lip service to help these poor people. Oprah, Anderson Cooper, and Brad have really helped out, I'm sure there are others. Especially Anderson he is trying to make sure no one forgets!
25Its nice, what hes doing, kudos to him for it. I just hope we won't be bombarded with pics of skankalina every day..Its been nice not having to see the skeleton 3 times a day!
26Zahara Pitt, here's the link:
http://www.makeitrightnola.org/mir_SUB.php?section=merch&page=main
His tees are for sale too.
It took a while to get the website to load so I hope the project is getting lots of interest and donations. Especially at this time of year when it's so easy to focus on what you want (I am so guilty of that) and forget that there are others all over the world with so much less.
27Zahara Pitt, here's the link:
http://www.makeitrightnola.org/mir_SUB.php?section=merch&page=main
His tees are for sale too.
It took a while to get the website to load so I hope the project is getting lots of interest and donations. Especially at this time of year when it's so easy to focus on what you want (I am so guilty of that) and forget that there are others all over the world with so much less.
28go brad! i think it's great that he's helping people that need homes. more celebrities need to do this.
29forgot to add:
:ROFL:
30aaaaaaaaaaargh!!! Bl**dy internet is acting up or is it pop. Last try...
forgot to add:
{/soapbox}
31This is amazing. This is really great for New Orleans in more ways than one. Yay! I hope they stay here and continue to bring the problems the city is STILL facing into the media (and help to portray them more correctly).
32This really is something! Good for Brad, think what you want about him but he has donated a whole bundle of money and is obviously very passionate about this project. A project that will benefit the lives of many who need the help. Anderson Cooper deserves kudos for continually shedding light on a subject that is considered very old news in the media.
33Anderson Cooper really is to be commended for keeping Katrina's effects on New Orleans & the Gulf Coast's people in the news as much as he can. I guess some people thought it would only take a year or two for recovery. It's going to take at least 10-12 years for complete recovery.
The response from all around the country has been great, and it still needs to continue - from individuals, churches, organizations, etc. Some gave money, some volunteered hands-on, some gave food and other things.
Among the celebrities, Oprah, Brad (& Angelina), Sandra Bullock & others gave a lot of money. I know Sean Penn wasn't the only one who went to New Orleans to help in any way he could. Harry Connick, Jr., the Marsslis Brothers, Neville Brothers, & others organized benefit concerts & benefit CDs. I know of at least 11 benefit CDs out there that people can buy and give as Xmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa presents. They can be found on Amazon, or better yet, the Louisiana Music Factory.
34I like how Brad is dedicated to this cause.
35You gotta walk the talk, man.
But everyone deserves a chance.
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