Stars Say It’s All in the Cards

Will Smith, Rosie O’Donnell and Katie Couric are among a host of celebrities who are lending their names and artistic drawings this holiday season to a nonprofit organization that aids hospitalized children.

The celebrities, whose ranks include David Duchovny, Tea Leoni and Garth Brooks, created their own holiday greeting cards and donated them for sale to the Starlight Children’s Foundation. What the cards lack in artistic sophistication (hey, they’re celebrities, not painters, remember?) they make up for in the cute quotient, from Smith’s skinny Charlie Brown Christmas tree under a starry sky to Brooks’ message of peace and happiness.

The 15-year-old organization benefits some 57,000 ill children a month nationwide through a variety of programs including supplying access to playrooms and big-screen televisions. Starlight was founded by actress Emma Samms and film producer Peter Samuelson in 1983 to enhance the lives of sick kids between the ages of 4 and 18.

The holiday card promotion began locally two years ago and featured cards by John Lithgow, Kelsey Grammer, John Travolta, Whoopi Goldberg and Shaquille O’Neal. The program was so successful, it was expanded to cover the United States and Canada.

This year’s holiday cards are sponsored by Discovery Zone, which is also sponsoring a contest for kids to draw holiday cards and submit their designs for inclusion in the 1999 Celebrity Holiday Card program. The contest will continue through December.

Holiday cards are $17.50 for the first box of 12, $15 for each additional box. To order, call toll-free (877) 316-STAR.