By Brandy Reynolds on
Lo Bosworth – star of the hit MTV television show The Hills – is a young female philanthropist who truly believes in education.
As a college graduate, she has made the decision to teach children what she’s learned by educating one child at a time as an advocate of Jumpstart. Jumpstart’s mission is to ensure that all children in America enter school prepared to succeed. Year-round, Jumpstart recruits and trains thousands of people to work one-to-one with children in low income communities, helping preschoolers develop the language, literacy and social skills they need to succeed in school and in life.
Look To The Stars recently got the chance to interview this young women about how she is making a difference.
Why do you support Jumpstart?
For me, education was always such an important part of my life. I believe we have to start educating children at the very beginning, with reading. It’s the literacy aspect of Jumpstart – combined with my love of learning – that made me want to team up with this organization in particular.
What improvements have you seen since you have been working with this organization?
I was at a event recently in Santa Monica shooting a PSA for JumpStart [with] ambassadors who went to Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA . This group of college students read to kids at St Josephs 2 or 3 times a week, and they tell me that there’s a significant amount of improvement. They take kids in pre-school who are at risk and read to them for hours every single week trying to prepare them for kindergarten so that they’re at the appropriate reading level.
For someone in our age group who doesn’t have a lot of time or money, what would you suggest they do to get started in giving back?
The first thing to do is… go to the website and educate yourself about the organization. October 8 is our Read for the Record day, and you can sign up to be a reader and give a hour or two of your time to help out. I think that’s a great way to participate.
Were you brought up to give back or was there a certain event in your life that made you want to give back?
For me, I have been able to live a privileged life and I am so fortunate in that aspect. I try to remember the things I’ve done to get to this place, and now that I’m here I have the time and energy to give back to people. I think that when you’re in a privileged position, the best thing you can do is help others around you. Once you’ve attained success, then you do have the time and money to help others.
Do you think that young women in Hollywood are doing a good job at publicizing issues that affect our world? Do you think they could do more to get their fans involved?
I think to a certain degree yes, they could do more, but at the same time people want to support causes that they really do care about. And I think when you support a charity that you care about, that’s when the most work gets done. A lot of people go to charities to get their photo taken on the red carpet, and that’s different from really giving your time and energy to a cause. So I’d like to see more people really being active: finding one organization that they’re really passionate about and giving their time and energy to that.
What would you like to see change about the world when it comes to charity work?
I feel like any charity work out there is amazing. I feel like more people out there need to be willing to turn off the TV and get out there and help. One thing that I’m really interested in is working with more charities that are focused on people in our country. A lot of people focus on people overseas and I feel like there’s so much we can do here at home and make a difference.
Will any of your upcoming work reflect the philanthropic work you’re doing?
My sister and I are writing a children’s book and we’re trying to get that published. When I started reading to children and started working with Jumpstart, it inspired me to write a book. That was a really interesting experience for me and I’m really hoping that I can get our book published.
Who do you look up to in the industry and why?
Kelly Ripa. I love her show and I watch it every morning. I think that she’s so inspirational: she’s a mom and she has a strong family. We love her for just being herself. She has a career that I aspire to have.
Look To The Stars would like to thank Lo Bosworth for taking the time to talk to us. More information about Jumpstart’s Read For The Record campaign can be found at the charity’s website. Celebrity readers expected at this year’s event on October 8 include Laura Bush, Mary-Louise Parker, Jesse McCartney, and Greg Kinnear.
Copyright © 2009 Look to the Stars
