Hollywood's Elite To Be Lauded For Charitable Efforts At Inaugural Noble Awards

Eva Longoria Parker's Fun Night At 2009 ALMA Awards Getty ImagesAccess Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The inaugural Noble Awards, taking place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 18, has announced five new award honorees. The Blind Project, The Lollipop Theater Network, Padres Contra El Cancer and Playing for Change will be honored along with six other previously announced charities. In addition, Morgan Freeman will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The two-hour event, hosted by Access Hollywood's very own Billy Bush, seeks to annually honor up to a dozen charities and celebrities who actively support them, elevating awareness of these organizations and the impact of their work.

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Celebrities who will accept awards on behalf of the charities being honored include Laila Ali (Women's Sports Foundation), Bush (Lollipop Theater Network), Kenny Edmonds (Stand Up to Cancer), Teri Hatcher (Childrens Hospital Los Angeles), Norman Lear (Playing for Change), Joel Madden (The Art of Elysium), Annalynne McCord (The Blind Project), Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell (Best Buddies), Eva Longoria Parker (Padres Contra El Cancer) and Brett Ratner (DoSomething.org).

During the ceremony, each will be presented with an award sculpture, designed by Antonio Banderas, with personal touches added by children who participated in The Art of Elysium workshop at the Shriner's Hospital for Children. Brian McKnight and Julio Iglesias, Jr., along with Emily Bear and Timothy Mitchum will provide live musical performances throughout the evening.

"We are delighted to present these eleven distinguished charities and their celebrity supporters with the inaugural Noble Award," said Janeen Mansour, creator and executive producer of the Noble Awards.

"With the presentation of the Noble Awards, our goal is to turn the spotlight back onto these celebrities and charities to provide recognition, to educate, to inspire, and to encourage even more support from the Hollywood community and the public at large," Mansour continued.

Morgan Freeman will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for his tireless work and dedication to over a dozen non-profits.

Official partners for the 2009 Noble Awards include 7-Eleven which will launch their Cup with a Cause program at the event featuring celebrity designed coffee cups at 7-Eleven retail locations nationwide. Rumblefish Jewelry will design a jewelry line based on The Noble Awards and Be a Noble, where a percentage of sales will be donated to Noble charities. Look to the Stars which will work year round with the Noble Awards to promote philanthropy in Hollywood. Additional partners are The Hollywood Reporter, Audi, The Hilton Hotel, Mobile Cause, Rosenthal, One Hope Wine, GoodSearch, TakePart.com/Participant Media and EIF/iParticipate.

As the film industry has the Oscars, television the Emmys and the music industry the Grammy Awards, the charity community and its most dedicated Hollywood supporters hope to gain global recognition with the staging of the The Noble Awards. More information is at www.thenobleawards.org.