Nicole Richie Donates Her Baby Shower Gifts to Charity
Nicole Richie is using her Wizard of Oz-themed baby shower to benefit charity.
The Simple Life star and boyfriend Joel Madden, who are due to have their first child in January, will donate baby gifts to 100 expectant families in need through the newly-formed Richie Madden Foundation through the Los Angeles Free Clinic.
“It’s really sweet,” says shower guest Rashida Jones, of NBC’s The Office. “With all the swag these days, we’re given so much stuff it’s almost wasteful, and it’s kind of nice when we’re giving to each other to give to someone else.”
While many friends at Sunday’s shower in Beverly Hills donated gifts to the charity, they also brought gifts for Nicole and Joel to keep – including one children’s book from every guest to help build the baby’s library.
–Marisa Laudadio and Jenny Sundel
Nicole Richie, Joel Madden Shower 100 Moms with Baby Gifts
Not many kids have a foundation launched in their honor before they’re born. But that will be one of the many privileges bestowed upon Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s baby, due in January.
The couple hosted a surprise baby shower Monday for 100 expectant and new moms at the Los Angeles Free Clinic in Hollywood, where they handed out more than $200,000 worth of gifts. “The looks on their faces were priceless,” Richie told reporters after the shower. “Some of them didn’t even believe us [when they saw the gifts]. They thought we were joking.”
The Richie Madden Children’s Foundation (at richiemaddenfoundation.com), Madden said, was an idea the couple had when they found out they were expecting. “We grew up in Los Angeles,” he said, “and we want our child to be a part of the community, and to know that there’s a responsibility to help the community.”
’Part of a Family’
And it’s a family affair. “We named it the Richie Madden Children’s Foundation because we each have families and our families are close, and our family is involved,” Richie said. By her side with his arm stroking her back during moments in the conference, Madden quipped, “We’re lucky that we have families that get along and love each other,” adding, “I think it’s great that our child will grow up as a part of that family.”
Amongst the goodies given to families in need were Baby Bjorn products, cribs, mattresses and toys from Fisher-Price. “Everything they got, we got,” Richie says, “so everything that will be in their nursery, will be in our nursery.”
Madden felt good about the event. “Sometimes people don’t want to believe that me and Nicole are just a young couple having a baby and we’re really excited. We don’t really get to share our lives with people. It’s nice to connect with people on a real level.”
Halle Berry Planning on Eco-Friendly Diapers
As green-friendly stars drive Priuses to movie premieres, four-months-pregnant Halle Berry is doing her part as an environmentally conscious mom-to-be.
“They even have organic disposable diapers now that you can use,” Berry, showing her growing baby bump, told PEOPLE at Monday’s Hollywood premiere for Things We Lost in the Fire.
“I’m working on the nursery, but it’s all going to be organic and eco-friendly,” the actress, 41, explained. “There are so many things out now that you can use. I’m going to really try hard to make it all organic!”
The Oscar winner is expecting her first child in early 2008 with Gabriel Aubry, her boyfriend of almost two years who joined Berry at the premiere of her new drama.
Inside the After-Party
The couple, accompanied by Berry’s mother Judith, also cuddled at the after-party, as Aubry, 32, rubbed her stomach, wrapped his arm around her, and grasped for her hand. Berry avoided alcohol and stayed late, while friends and partygoers presented her with baby gifts.
Berry carried a book of motherhood “blessings,” given to her wrapped in yellow tissue paper, as she thumbed through and read selected pages.
The movie’s director, Susanne Bier, tells PEOPLE she sees glimpses firsthand of Berry ’s mommy tendencies.
“She had no issue with being [a] mother,” Bier says. “The kids on-set were calling her mom. I think that proves it pretty much, that there was a natural thing where they were calling her mom.”
And playing a mom clued Berry into her motherly instincts. “The ease I had with [the children actors] validated that I do have a really strong maternal instinct,” Berry says, “and I really do need to have children.”
Jennifer Lopez is Having Twins
Jennifer Lopez is Having Twins
If you were planning on buying baby gifts for Jennifer Lopez, you’d better make sure they come in pairs. According to her father, she’s having twins.
That’s right, Jennifer and her hubby Marc Anthony are expecting twins. And it turns out, it’s a hereditary thing for the “Waiting For Tonight” singer.
David Lopez, Jen’s father, told press, “Yes, twins. The thing is in my family, my sister also had twins, so it’s a hereditary thing. I’m very proud. Jennifer has yearned to be a mother for many years,”
And if you’re searching all over for what to get the Lopez-Anthony little ones, David has a suggestion. “In Puerto Rico it’s custom to buy an azabache [black stone] bracelet for babies to protect them from the evil eye, it’s part of our culture.”