Selena Gomez is set to host an exclusive concert for UNICEF for the third time!

The 20-year-old singer will hit the stage to benefit programs that provide nutrition, clean water, medicine, education, and more to children worldwide on Saturday (January 19) at the Best Buy Theater in New York City.

“2013 is a year of music for me and this is such a great way to kick it off. #Selenaunicef” she tweeted.

“Nothing is more important than helping children in need around the globe,” Selena said of the event. “I’m thankful that I can use my voice to bring awareness and much-needed funds to UNICEF so they can continue their critical work. Together, with my fans, we can save lives.”

Be sure to get your tickets starting Friday, December 21 @ 10 PM ET!

Source: Just Jared, Jr.

Make-A-Wish kid Ella, 7, from Houston, Texas, was treated to a star-studded afternoon when her wish to meet her favorite artist, Selena Gomez, was granted in Los Angeles. Ella became a big fan of the pop star after receiving a Selena Gomez and The Scene CD for her birthday. A video of wish kid Ella meeting Selena Gomez will debut today on http://a.wish.org/SelenaWish.

Ella, who has battled Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia for more than two years, spent a fun-filled afternoon with Selena chatting, taking photos and playing “Kinect: Disneyland Adventures” on Kinect for Xbox 360. The wish kid gushed that the afternoon with Selena was the best day of her life.

“Ella and her family enjoyed every minute of her afternoon play date with Selena Gomez,” said David Williams, Make-A-Wish America president and chief executive officer. “I speak for Ella, her family and Make-A-Wish when I express my gratitude to Selena for taking the time out of her busy schedule to grant the wish of such a special and full of life little girl.”

Business Wire – Selena Gomez Grants Make-A-Wish kid Ella’s Wish!

 

“When you’re a parent and you have a child who has cancer, it just feels like the meanness of the world is coming down and slapping you in the face,” said Ella’s father, Chris. “When the folks from Make-A-Wish told us that she would be able to have a wish, it just felt like the whole world was righting some sort of wrong.”

During May, Xbox will donate $15 for each purchase of Kinect: Disneyland Adventures made at U.S. Microsoft Store locations and microsoftstore.com to Make-A-Wish, with a minimum donation of $100,000 worldwide ($20,000 US/$80,000 UK) and maximum donation of $240,000 worldwide. For more information about Make-A-Wish and this program, visit wish.org. For more information about the Kinect: Disneyland Adventures game, visit http://a.wish.org/xboxwish.

Selena Gomez has urged her fans to donate $10 to the latest United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) campaign to help starving African kids.

The Disney star has served as an ambassador for the organization since 2009, and she’s filmed an emotional appeal for help in the Sahel region, which is experiencing severe drought and leaving families without food.

In the video, she says, “Right now more than a million children could die in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa.

“Crops have failed in eight drought-hit countries, leaving families with almost nothing to eat. Children are especially vulnerable when they don’t get the nutrition that they need.

“UNICEF urgently needs your help to buy therapeutic food and medicine to treat the most sick and malnourished children. It can save their lives. Please help right now. I did – will you?”

Linking to the video on her Twitter.com page, she asks her fans to retweet the clip and adds, “We must save kids in the Sahel NOW!”

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Teen star Selena Gomez is preparing to visit the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of her humanitarian work for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

The star has been a Unicef ambassador for two years, and has visited Ghana and Chile in a bid to raise awareness of the organization’s work with children.

She performed at The House of Blues in Los Angeles on Monday to raise $200,000 for the charity, and revealed she is gearing up for a trip to the Congo after a word of encouragement from fellow Unicef ambassador Joel Madden.

She tells E!Online, “We first went to Ghana and then we went to Chile. In April, we’re going to go somewhere a little harder, the Congo… The first trips were to ease me into it.”

“I was talking to Joel Madden and he works with Unicef and he went to the Congo. He said it was the most intense thing he had ever done in his entire life – and the best thing he had ever done.”

Source: Star Pulse

Disney darlings past and present are in the giving spirit this week! On Wednesday, a cheerful Miley Cyrus headed to a Los Angeles-area homeless shelter to donate ten bags of clothing to those in need. Now performer Selena Gomez is also doing her part for charity, having donated the ethereal Catherine Dean gown she wore in her music video “A Year Without the Rain” for auction.

Gomez told PeopleStyleWatch of the dress, “It was obviously a very important part of the video—we wanted it to be very beautiful and very flowy and I got so many great comments on it so I thought it would be awesome to give it to charity.”

The gown is available now through November 10 on Charitybuzz. Proceeds will aid UNICEF in its mission to help disadvantaged children worldwide.