Kevin Bacon stopped by the Make A Difference Day luncheon Thursday to talk service, Paul Newman, and Lady Gaga. The actor, famous for the “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” parlor game as well, told the audience how after September 11, he was inspired to start a charity organization by the contents of his fridge.
“Like so many of us, I woke up and was just feeling completely and totally overwhelmed,” he said. “You think, I wish I could figure out a way to do more.”
“I opened up the refrigerator, and there’s Paul,” he said, referring to the face on the Newman’s Own jar. “He’s staring at me from a jar of tomato sauce.”
Bacon got to thinking about how Newman parlayed a love of cooking into a $300+ million charity and how he could use his fame to launch a non-profit. “I didn’t really like the sound of the Footloose Foundation,” he said, so he went with Six Degrees.org, a charity network that helps connect people with giving and volunteer opportunities.
Bacon told Yeas & Nays that several celebrities have taken on the charity leadership role left by Newman, who died in 2008, including Lady Gaga. “Look at Lady Gaga and the way she has empowered her followers,” he said. The singer has “taken up the mantle of this anti-bullying thing.”
