Hollywood star ASHTON KUTCHER has pledged $100,000 ($69,000) to aid the fight against malaria.
Kutcher bet his Twitter.com site would gather one million followers before news network CNN.com. He won and CNN boss Ted Turner handed over the money, which Kutcher has donated to the United Nations (U.N), who are spearheading a battle to stop the spread of the deadly disease – which kills 3,000 children a day in Africa alone. His generous donation prompted his wife Demi Moore, TV presenter Ryan Seacrest and talk show host Oprah Winfrey to make their own donations. U.N. special envoy for malaria Ray Chambers says of the gestures – which coincide with World Malaria Day on Saturday (25Apr09): “A week ago Tuesday, malaria was the most often used word on Twitter as the result of the bet between Kutcher and CNN. And (CNN boss) Ted Turner has challenged Kutcher and his followers to raise another 100,000 for nothing but nets. If they do it, Turner will have Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore over for dinner.” Record producer Quincy Jones has also been honoured by the U.N. for his contribution to the fight against Malaria. Accepting an award from Chambers at a ceremony in Washington D.C., Jones said, “It’s a remarkable thing to be on the road to defeating this thing called malaria.” ASHTON KUTCHER News Letter