Clooney's Ocean Gang Gives Big to Darfur

Thu., Mar. 13, 2008 5:14 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

George Clooney and his pals have proven adept at putting their money where their mouths are.

The organization the actor started along with Ocean's Eleven costars Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle and producer Jerry Weintraub to raise awareness and aid the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region has donated $500,000 to the United Nations World Food Program.

Not On Our Watch has raised more than $9.3 million for Darfur since its launch less than a year ago. More than 200,000 people have been killed and another 2.5 million displaced as a result of an ongoing civil conflict between Sudanese government-backed Arab militias and ethnic rebel tribes.

Since visiting the region a couple of years ago with his father, Nick, Clooney has used his pull with, well, just about everybody to rally the U.S. government, the U.N. and his fellow celebrities to get behind the cause.

The $500,000 will go toward the WFP's Humanitarian Air Service, which coordinates the plane and helicopter travel that carries crucial supplies and relief workers into the region. An average of 8,000 relief workers from a variety of nongovernmental organizations and charities go to and from the area each month.

"This is a critical time for the program," Clooney, whose group also gave $1 million to the WFP last year, said in a statement Thursday. "Without immediate additional funding, humanitarian aid in the region will be crippled.

"We are proud to help ensure the survival of this lifesaving program and strongly encourage others to do the same. Protection of these victims should not fall solely in the hands of charitable organizations. Governments have a responsibility to help those who cannot defend themselves."

The Rome-based WFP fed as many as 3.2 million people in Darfur over the past year, according to figures provided by the agency, which said earlier this week that the flight program was in danger of shutting down at the end of March because of a lack of confirmed donations.

"Having seen firsthand the epic humanitarian challenge in Darfur, George Clooney and his colleagues know the lifesaving power of the Humanitarian Air Service," WFP executive director Josette Sheeran said Thursday. "This contribution will make a difference to the millions of vulnerable women and children trapped there, and we hope it will inspire other donations."