Ashley Judd was honored last night as part of USA TODAY’s fourth annual Hollywood Hero Awards for her work as a Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS. The 41-year-old actress was modest in her acceptance of the award, telling USA TODAY’s Ann Oldenburg, “I’m just the front woman. I was just lucky that this wonderful organization was put in my lap and I had the opportunity to be involved with them.”

Joining the celebration in honor of Judd were Morgan Freeman, Mandy Moore, Molly Sims, Eva Amurri, Omar Miller, Debra Messing, and last year’s recipient Magic Johnson. “After I received the award last year,” said Johnson, “I said, ‘The next person has to be beautiful.’ They have to care about the community, give back to the community, do it with passion, love and a big heart. When I found out it was Ashley Judd, it couldn’t have been a better person. The only thing I don’t like about her is she’s a Kentucky Wildcat fan. Sometimes they play against my Michigan Spartans.”

Another revealing tidbit from the evening? Judd is currently pursuing a masters in public policy from Harvard University. Might we one day see her in politics?

Pictures from the evening below!

Though she’s in the process of getting ready to launch her own line of clothing for charity, Gwyneth Paltrow has decided to take on some additional charitable design challenges as well. The actress has designed a limited-edition bikini for Lilly Pulitzer’s A Colorful Cause: Celebrity Designer Program, which honors the label’s 50th anniversary by supporting The Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation.

Joining Paltrow in the designing are five additional famous faces: Brooke Shields, Debra Messing, Marcia Cross, Angie Harmon, Bridget Moynahan, Catherine Bell, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilson have all signed on to lend their personal touches to the mommy-and-me creations. The clothes will be available for purchase in April at Lilly Pulitzer stores across the country and online at the official site.

The ‘Green Your Routine’ campaign will feature celebs talking about what they do in their own lives to be more eco-friendly, and the line-up of participating talent is huge! Just a handful of the stars who will be giving their tips include John Krasinski of The Office, Jane  Krakoswki and Jack Brayer of 30 Rock, Masi Oka and Zachary Quinto of Heroes, Tori Spelling, Tiki Barber, Debra Messing, Ann Curry, Meredith Viera, Al Roker and the ladies of Lipstick Jungle.

Be sure to tune into NBC next week, Nov. 16th – 23rd, to catch all the celeb tips and green programming! Check out the whole list over at NBC ‘Green is Universal’.

If your dream in life is to sip a chai latte in an oversized pink mug signed by Shannon Elizabeth, you’re in luck. Along with Elizabeth, Debra Messing, Susan Lucci, Joel Madden, Christina Milian, Jesse Metcalfe, Melody Thomas Scott, Julianne Hough and other celebs have signed their own Nonni’s Biscotti mug for charity to be auctioned off this October.

Ninety mugs will be auctioned in all. All proceeds are benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and if you buy a box of Nonni’s Biscotti during the campaign, 75 cents of each purchase will also go to the charity.

As October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, bidding will start on the mugs October 1 and will run the entire month.

Paris

Glenn Close recently received a “Golden Bone” from LookToTheStars.org for her role as co-founder of Fetchdog.com — an online store that offers high-end canine supplies while raising money for charity. Each time you purchase an item through Fetchdog.com a percentage of the total will be donated to a select dog charity of your choice. Some doggy-options are: Little Angels Pug Rescue, Animal Rescue New Orleans,the ASPCA and many more. 

The site is also home to Glenn’s blog and a section called Lively Licks where Glenn interviews celebs like Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson, Dan Zelman and Debra Messing about all things canine. “Our dogs love us and keep us laughing through good times and bad,” writes Close on her blog, “This blog is a tribute to all the fabulous dogs who trot and wag their way through our lives and to the people who they have so successfully trained.”

Close has several dogs herself and is known for bringing her “kids” to the set while shooting. Now I know some of you might be wondering if Glenn got her dogs from rescue shelters, so I did a little digging (no pun intended).  I couldn’t get word if any of her CURRENT dogs are from shelters, but she has a solid record of owning rescued dogs and she certainly supports some great rescue shelters!

So a big high five, Glenn, from me to you. Thanks for setting the example and doing them doggies right!