Celeb Cause of the Month: Earth Angel
Source: YM Magazine -- August 2001
Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson is used to raking in the green, but now he's into another kind of green -- the environment.
Kevin was fed up reading countless stories about air and water pollution, deforestation, and the deterioration of the ozone layer, so he decided it was time he used his fame to make a change. In December 2000, he formed the organization Just Within Reach.
Why he thinks we all need to clean up after ourselves: "When I was a young kid in Kentucky, I could go anywhere and drink the tap water," explains Kevin, 29. "No one does that anymore. Since we're all drinking bottled water now, I'm afraid that one day we might be wearing oxygen tanks in order to go outdoors."
Goals of Just Within Reach: "I want to do something now to make sure my kids can swim in the rivers and go fishing like I did growing up," says Kevin. "I hope to raise awareness and hold people, companies, and governments responsible for destroying nature, and to teach personal accountability. Everyone can do a little bit to help."
How how's getting the word out: Kevin has been meeting with National Geographic to collaborate on an educational video to be shown in schools, and he has been in talks with Erin Brockovich (the cleavage-baring clean-water crusader that Julia Roberts portrayed in the movie) to work together on public service announcements. Meanwhile, a percentage of BSB's ticket sales for their Black & Blue World Tour go to his foundation (along with Brian Littrell's Healthy Heart Club for Kids, and Howie Dorough's Dorough Lupus Foundation). The guys also take a few minutes out of each show to talk about their organizations, so their fans can get involved.
Could he be the first boy-band member to get elected? "Who knows what the future holds? If [former wrestler turned governor] Jesse Ventura could do it, I could," says Kevin, laughing. Maybe he'll be elected the next governor of Florida. Stranger things have happened.
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