We’re excited and honored that the Melissa Etheridge Fan Club is adding up! Thank you for all your support and for spreading the message of hope and action in the face of the climate crisis. Melissa has a voice that inspires change within oneself and beyond and her life continues to be a real testimony to that. Her motto, “Be Strong, Speak True, Spread the Peace” is one she follows. Go to MelissaEtheridge.com and learn more about her. We love her “Green Tips” page in particular and “M.E.I.N. Breast Cancer Awareness page.” Become a member of the Melissa Etheridge Information Network (M.E.I.N.) and be even closer to this incredible artist and humanitarian with member privileges.

Melissa Etheridge has won an Academy Award plus 2 Grammy’s. Her battle with breast cancer in 2004 turned her focus around and changed the way she lives her life. Her 2007 album, The Awakening spreads a strong message to bring hope, joy, and importance of life and community, and includes the song, “I Need to Wake Up” which was written for the Al Gore film, An Inconvenient Truth. Her recent Christmas album, A New Thought For Christmas, delivers holiday songs of old and new, including “Ring the Bells” which she co-wrote with Salman Ahmad, a Pakistani Sufi-rock artist. It was an awesome collaboration and has inspired a “Ring the Bells” event on December 21.

Enjoy this newscast from Cleveland’s WKYC, where you get a little ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at WE ADD UP. Original airdate: April 22, 2008

We’re very proud of Beachwood High School’s “Green Dream.” Check out the mission of this group and get inspired in YOUR school!

In the first pic, here I am with Brett Boeckmann. Brett is a truly inspired individual, radiating positivity and compassion. He is an associate producer at World Peace One, Ambassodor to West Africa, and International Coordinator for Sierra Leone. We hope to collaborate with Brett in the future on many projects.

The next pic features Jimmy Jean-Louis, who played The Haitian on “Heroes,” starred in “Phat Girlz” and “Moster-in-Law,” and is also an international model. Would you like to shower together with Jimmy and save some water?

And next to Jimmy, there I am again with Deirdre Hall. As you probably know, Deirdre is big soap star, playing Dr. Marlena Evans in almost 300 episodes of Days of Our Lives.

We were at the Alive! Expo Green Pavillion at Sundance.  Park City is such a quaint, historic little town, we had a wonderful time.  We found a lot of support for the project and got a lot of stars counted in the global count.  Thanks for all your support of WE ADD UP, Hollywood!

We had the pleasure to go to Sundance last week. Though the altitude didn’t cooperate with our lungs very well (we’re used to being at about 600 ft, not 7,000 ft), we had an amazing time telling people about WE ADD UP and meeting some stars. Pictured above is Tim Daly, star of “Private Practice,” signing the very first shirt in the count (that’s number 0000001). We’ll be auctioning off this tee for charity later in the year. Next to him are Ed Roland and Dean Roland from Collective Soul. And, next to them are Judy and Lin Shaye. Lin played the part of the old woman in “There’s Something About Mary.” She looks so much younger in person!  Remember her dog?

I’ll be posting more pictures and stories in the days to come.

We’ve just returned from New York where we were guests on the plaza of The Early Show on CBS. Many thanks to Jeff Jayson and all the folks there for inviting us. Jose was especially accomodating, letting us wait in the warm and inviting Apple store in between segments. Thanks, Jose! And, my, did we pick the darn near coldest day in New York thus far! With wind chill, it had to have been below zero degrees. After a few minutes outside it felt like our faces were going to fall off. Kudos to Dave Price, the weatherman, for smiling and delivering the weather in such conditions.

Despite the cold, though, it was a great experience. 3 of us in Cleveland carpooled to New York and met up with 3 friends there for the shoot. We hope we brought some more awareness to the difference individuals can make in the fight to stop climate change.

Also to note, we’ve recently decided to donate 100% of all profits from the sale of WE ADD UP tees to environmental non-profits. Now, you can feel even more confident that your commitment to “Get Counted” in the WE ADD UP project will have a ripple effect of impact.

Jill