Kevin Bacon to be recognized for philanthropy at the Critics’ Choice Awards

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Kevin Bacon to be recognized for philanthropy

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s awards season is just beginning, and Kevin Bacon has already won.

The 51-year-old actor, nominated for Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards for his starring turn in the TV movie “Taking Chance,” will receive the Joel Siegel Award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The award recognizes an entertainer’s charitable efforts.

Meryl Streep will present the honor to Bacon at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards on Jan. 15.

Bacon is being honored for his Web site SixDegrees.org, which invites visitors to contribute to their favorite causes with a few clicks of the mouse. Bacon said he was inspired by longtime philanthropist Paul Newman, who “took this simple idea and was able to translate it into millions and millions of dollars of good work.”

So, playing on the trivia game that bears his name, Bacon created SixDegrees.org to connect donors and volunteers with the charities that interest them.

“The idea that we’re all connected as human beings on this planet and the things that we do to each other and for each other have a ripple effect … there’s a real kind of six-degrees reality to this planet right now,” Bacon said, adding that he was “trying to turn something that was a little bit of a joke just into something kind of positive.”

The site has attracted nearly $3 million in donations since its launch three years ago.

BFCA President Joey Berlin said the Joel Siegel Award, named for the late “Good Morning America” correspondent, honors a person “who understands that the true value of celebrity is as an enhanced platform to do good works for others.”

“Kevin personifies the values celebrated by this award,” Berlin said in a statement Tuesday.

The 15th annual awards, hosted by Kristin Chenoweth, will air live from the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on VH1 (9 p.m. EST).

On the Net:

www.bfca.org/

www.sixdegrees.org/