Jennifer Hudson: Charity Work & Causes

Jennifer Hudson has come a long way since she was a finalist in American Idol a few years ago. Not only has she launched a successful recording career, the starlet has acted in films such as Dreamgirls, and won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a SAG Award.

Hudson attended the tenth annual V-Day festival, a special celebration in New Orleans that aimed to bring a change to the way the world acts and thinks about women and whose mission was to start a global movement to stop violence against women and girls around the world.

V-Day is a non-profit organization that distributes funds to grassroots national and international initiatives and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. Named one of Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities and one of Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, the V-Day movement has raised over $50 million in the last 9 years.

Hudson has also attended Alicia Keys' Keep A Child Alive ball in London, an event that raised money to provide life-saving anti-retroviral treatment to children and their families with HIV/AIDS in Africa.

“Any time you’re helping someone is very important and, of course, when children are involved,” said Hudson. “I feel like your celebrity is not about the fortune or the fame. But if you can’t help anyone then it’s in vain, it’s pointless.”