I have just added 25 photos of Rosario from the “Children Mending Hearts” Gala. You can see the photos by clicking on the previews below…

The world would most definitely be a better place if all celebrities were like Rosario Dawson.
Ever since the actress got her big break playing Ruby in the controversial Larry Clark-helmed film, Kids, she’s been finding ways to give back to her community.

From the Lower East Side Girls Club to VDay (a global movement to end violence against women) to Voto Latino, Dawson is not afraid to get her hands a little dirty and get involved, and her interests reach far and wide.

Although Dawson’s non-profit organization Voto Latino was founded in 2004 in response to the news that Latinos were officially the largest “minority” group in the country, yet we’re not being represented at the voting booths, the effort has expanded to include environmental and educational initiatives. The organization¿s latest initiative is a big push for Latino involvement in the 2010 US Census.

We talked to the actress about what motivates her to advocate around issues affecting the Latino community.

“I’m proud to be a citizen of the United States of America and I want to give back in every way I can,” she says of her passion to get involved.

“I was raised community-based. I grew up in a spot in the lower east side where it was really obvious how poverty and low-down neighborhoods can affect people-not being able to have access to education and how that just sets people up for life to have less and less of choices.”

Education is also of utmost importance to the Voto Latino mission and to Dawson, who knows first-hand what it means to miss out on school. The actress, who broke into the industry in high school, never had a chance to go to college.

“I started working at 15, I graduated high school and I made the choice to not go to college because I thought: I could take a shot at this career, and possibly pay for my brother to go to school and maybe I can go to school later.

But if I go to school right now, I could lose this opportunity that I had to be in this industry which could be very lucrative for my family.”

Although Dawson may have forgone a formal college education, she makes sure to learn about the issues she is passionate about and may even head back to school later on in life.

“I have a lot of great teachers around the world and I feel really blessed, she says. ‘But I have family members who started college in their 40′s and 50′s so maybe I’ll do that when Hollywood stops giving me roles!”

Currently, Dawson is focusing on a campaign to encourage Latinos to participate in the 2010 US Census. Although some Latino leaders had encouraged our community to boycott the census, Dawson says, “I would be very weary of anyone telling you not to fill out a census.

It’s imperative to do so and most likely they’re saying that because they don’t want districts to be redrawn and certain politicians to loose their seat and unfortunately, that includes Latinos. People are afraid of change in a lot of ways. They don’t know what’s coming around the corner, they like how things are right now.”

As far as Voto Latino is concerned, Dawson isn’t interested in taking sides. “All that Voto Latino is trying to do is give folks as much clear information as possible to empower themselves.

It’s unbelievable the overwhelming response that’s there’s been. It’s there, it’s ready, it’s seething. People, young people especially, want change, serious change.”

From Terra

Actress Rosario Dawson wants Latinos to know that the Census is just as important as voting, so it’s a natural cause for Voto Latino, the non-profit organization she co-founded.

“In some ways I say it’s even more important than voting,” said Dawson, who starred in “Seven Pounds” and “Sin City.”

Dawson was in Washington on Wednesday night to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Voto Latino. A panel discussion about the group’s newest project — “Greening the Next Generation of Workforce” — brought together President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan at the Navy Heritage Center at the US Navy Memorial.

From Politico

Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, and “Ugly Betty” star Ana Ortiz came together to film a TV spot for MTV Tr3s and Voto Latino. The three Latin stars are reaching out to fellow Latinos to take the 2010 Census.

With the “Be Counted?Represent” 2010 campaign, the stars are urging the participation of Latinos in the Census in order to receive better representation in congress and have the necessary funds for the community’s needs allocated properly. Based on the results of the census, more than $400 billion in funds from the federal government will go to local hospitals, job-training centers, and public work projects.

“By taking part in the Census, you will help secure funding for your community’s schools, emergency services, and other important community needs,” Dawson says in the first PSA released from the campaign.

The stars also also joining other famous faces like Disney Channel star Demi Lovato and actor Jorge Garcia for other ads which promote the importance of Latino representation in the 2010 Census.

By visiting the campaign’s website at www.becountedrepresent.com, filling out a form that pledges to participate in the 2010 Census will get you 25 free songs from artists like Pitbull, Aventura, Mos Def, Morrissey, Jaguares, and Los Tigres Del Norte.

Dawson adds, “Mi gente, we cannot do this without you.”

From All Headline News

Stage and screen star Rosario Dawson will direct a benefit reading of Eve Ensler’s newest work, I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World, at Urban Zen Center at Stephan Weiss Studio, on Friday, February 5 at 7:30pm.

The piece chronicles the struggle of girls everywhere to overcome the obstacles, threats, and pressures that rob them of their originality and power. The readings will be performed by teen girls, including Samantha Mozes and girls from V-Girls pilot sites in New York City – the Harvey Milk High School at the Hetrick Martin Institute, the Young Women’s Leadership School, and the Lower East Side Girls Club.

Proceeds will benefit V-Day’s work with women and girls worldwide. Tickets are $100 for general seating with packages at $1000 – $5000, which will include an intimate cocktail reception immediately after the reading.

For more information, call 212-924-1229 or e-mail events@vday.org. To purchase, click here.

President Obama is turning to a handful of Hollywood stars to judge a contest that asks grassroots supporters to create a television commercial promoting health care reform.

Musician Will.I.Am, actor John Cho, actress Rosario Dawson, actor Dulé Hill, “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane, actor Brandon Routh, actress Kate Walsh and actress Olivia Wilde will join Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, DNC Executive Director Jen O’Malley Dillon, Rep. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe and volunteers in helping to pick the 30-second commercial that will air nationally, a DNC official tells CNN.

The contest is being run by Obama’s political arm – Organizing for America – which is housed at DNC headquarters in Washington, DC. It is the latest effort by the president’s political team to try and enlist the grassroots to help pressure Congress to pass health care reform this year.

“We know that compelling videos can touch people in a way that words alone simply cannot,” Natalie Foster, OFA’s new media director, said in an e-mail announcing the contest last week. “The messages that regular people put together will make a bigger difference than any false smears or slick ads the other side can dream up. And who knows — your creative, powerful, or touching video could help tip the balance in favor of health reform.”

OFA will officially announce the names of the judges late Wednesday morning. The contest ends October 18.

From CNN

Americans for the Arts, the leading organization for advancing the arts in America, announces recipients of the 2009 National Arts Awards. The annual awards recognize those artists and arts leaders who exhibit exemplary national leadership and whose work demonstrates extraordinary artistic achievement. They are organizations and individuals—artists, business leaders, and patrons—who understand that the arts enrich people and communities alike.

This year, the following will be honored:

Robert Redford, Lifetime Achievement Award
Salman Rushdie, Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts
Ed Ruscha, Artistic Excellence Award
Sidney Harman, Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts
Rosario Dawson, Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence
Anne Finucane, Bank of America, Corporate Citizenship in the Arts Award

Rosario Dawson, Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence
As a critically-acclaimed actress, producer, and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Voto Latino, Rosario Dawson is making both meaningful art and a lasting difference. Discovered as a teenager and cast in the controversial hit Kids, Ms. Dawson has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought after leading ladies, yet remains a dedicated advocate for young people. She recently starred in Eagle Eye, Grindhouse, Rent, Seven Pounds, and Sin City. In 2004, she co-founded Voto Latino, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to increase American Latino youth civic participation by both increasing voter turnout and political involvement among this group.

From Art Daily

This week, the Environmental Media Association’s Young Hollywood Board is putting on the gloves and digging deep in support of organic gardening in Los Angeles-area schools. Celebs on the Board, including Nicole Richie, Lance Bass, Rosario Dawson, members of Maroon 5, Amy Smart, Matthew Rhys, Emily VanCamp and Emmanuelle Chriqui, will each adopt an area school, help with the planting, and check in with their gardens during the school year, explains People.

The project is the product of a newly-formed partnership between the EMA and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s School Gardens program, and personal care brand Yes To Inc. The launch event is scheduled for tomorrow morning at Hollywood’s Helen Bernstein High School, and the program will take root over the next several months.

Just how much dirt Richie et al will actually get under their fingernails remains to be seen, but Bass for one is pretty stoked: “Organic gardens are so important, especially in urban areas where many students would otherwise never see any greenery. I hope that the support will help them to grow and flourish in Los Angeles.”

From LAist