Jessica Biel Starts Social Network Site
Actress Jessica Biel is involved in the launch of Make the Difference Network, and the site that connects people to nonprofits will be run by her father Jon Biel and social entrepreneur Kent McBride. MTDN.com makes cutting-edge Web technology readily available to participating nonprofits and matches nonprofit organizations with potential donors.
The idea for the site started after Jessica was moved by the story of a young fan, Timmy Beasley, who suffered from muscular dystrophy. By putting information about Timmy on her then current website, donating a little money and asking others to do the same, she realized she could help make a difference for those less fortunate than her. Timmy has since passed away, but his memory lives on as the inspiration behind Make the Difference Network.
Make the Difference Network offers nonprofits a way to increase visibility and bring their organizations to life with heartwarming stories, photos and blogs and to create community amongst their donors who have an interest in a common cause. There is no charge for qualified non-profits to participate in their Basic Membership and 100 percent of donations go directly to the specific cause or wish designated by the donor. MTDN.com is in its early stages but has already attracted more than 150 nonprofits that are trying to fulfill more than 230 wishes.
Rachel Mara Doyle, President of Glamour Gals, a nonprofit that creates compassionate teen volunteers to go to nursing homes at least once a month to provide elderly women with complimentary facials and makeovers. They are currently using MTDN.com to try to fulfill seven different wishes , ranging from raising money to ship cosmetics to the different chapters, to sending the teens to a leadership training institute which is a one-day conference that will be held in NYC for 100 teens.
Other celebrities are using MTDN to help spread the word about their own nonprofit organizations or to support their favorite nonprofits on the site. For example, Dwayne Johnson, Chairman/Founder of The Rock Foundation, is using MTDN to promote his organization that provides programs designed to enrich and empower the lives and self-esteem of children who are hospitalized for medical disabilities, disorders and illnesses. Gabriel Union, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Karolina Kurkova, Brian Griese, Elaine Hendrix, Bode Miller, Jordan Paul, Michelle Roark and Josh Peek are also involved.