Link: http://www.northraleighnews.com/2011/07/20/8926/sheen-lends-%E2%80%8Bsupport-to-local-charity.html
Sheen lends support to Wake Forest charity
BY CHELSEA KELLNER - Staff Writer
A Wake Forest charity vying for online contest votes got an unexpected dose of star power last week: Charlie Sheen.
The actor posted public support for CHERUBS, which supports families of children born with an often fatal birth defect, to his more than 4 million fans on the social networking site Twitter.
CHERUBS supporters hope it will be enough to top the rival charity backed by fellow actor and Twitter-user Colin Farrell that knocked them out of first place last month.
Vote online until Aug. 27 at voteforcherubs.org to help locally based charity CHERUBS win $250,000.
"It's been incredible," CHERUBS founder Dawn Williamson said. "To see Charlie Sheen post about it, that's more awareness than these babies have ever had."
CHERUBS is jockeying for first in the 2011 Vivint Gives Back Project, a national online campaign that will award $250,000 to the winning nonprofit organization, and $100,000 to five regional charities throughout the United States and Canada.
CHERUBS is currently a regional finalist, and in third place nationally.
To drum up the vote count as the timer ticks down to Aug. 27, Williamson had been sending support requests for her "little charity that could" to every celebrity she could find on Twitter, from Paris Hilton to Joan Rivers.
Sheen was the first to give a personal response.
Williamson got an unexpected phone call from Sheen, who she says carefully researched the charity before lending his support.
"He's a really, really nice guy," Williamson said. "He's extremely professional, and extremely supportive."
"I'm down with Dawn!!" Sheen tweeted July 13 in response to Williamson's request, reposting the voteforcherubs.org link urging his fans to vote for CHERUBS.
Two days later, his message was more direct.
"STOP...NOW VOTE," Sheen posted with the voting link attached. "Only takes 30 secs to help the babies!!"
Attempts to reach Sheen last week were unsuccessful.
"Retweets," when the celebrity re-posts a charity's request with no further comment, are not so uncommon, Williamson said. They also don't have as much impact.
To have a Twitter user as famous as Sheen with his 4 million followers personally backing CHERUBS' cause is a big deal, Williamson said.
"I'm mostly in shock, and just so focused on this contest," Williamson said. "I'm all about 'show me the votes.'"
CHERUBS provides support to families of children born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a birth defect that occurs when the diaphragm fails to fully form, allowing the organs to enter the chest cavity and preventing lung growth. That means multiple surgeries and long hospitalizations.
Even so, half the babies born with the defect do not survive. The cause is unknown.
As far as Williamson knows, Sheen has no personal connection to the defect - "just me begging," Williamson said, laughing.
The nonprofit, whose usual operating budget is $35,000, would use half the Vivint Gives Back Project winnings for genetic research through Massachusetts General Hospital.
The other half would go to family support services like care packages.
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