Head over to wbztv.com to watch a interview of Tea talking with Sunday’s Liz Walker about her work with UNICEF.

[The article chronicles how "a massive, 10-year expansion of its fundraising structure led to a 600 percent increase in revenue for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and a new world of health and security for the children it helps." Chip Lyons, Jeff Towers and Ed Lloyd were interviewed at length for this story as were USF board members Tony Pantaleoni and Tea Leoni.]

By ABNY SANTICOLA

A massive, 10-year expansion of its fundraising structure led to a 600 percent increase in revenue for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and a new world of health and security for the children it helps.

UNICEF is like no other organization in the world. Founded in 1946 to help children in post-war Europe, China and the Middle East, the organization now has 37 national committees and gives aid to disadvantaged children in 156 countries and territories, providing services that include immunization, education, health care, nutrition, clean water and sanitation.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF was the first national committee established for the organization. In 1947, with the war over and the crisis in Europe subsiding, there were concerns about how to keep UNICEF funded. Up until that point, the U.S. government had been its sole supporter, but that wasn’t something the organization felt it could rely on as a sure thing. As a solution to the dilemma, the U.S. Committee for UNICEF was formed. Later renamed the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the group took UNICEF’s fate out of the hands of the U.S. government and put it in the hands of the public; and it put the U.S. Fund for UNICEF on the road to becoming the international fundraising organization that it is today.

Helenka Pantaleoni was a co-founder of the U.S. Fund and served as its president for 25 years. A Broadway actress born to Polish musicians who had emigrated prior to the war, Pantaleoni had become involved with aid efforts following Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the loss of her husband, who died fighting for American forces. Her personal connection to the horrors of World War II and the suffering that resulted translated into a passion for her work with the U.S. Fund. Under her leadership, the organization raised $113 million, mostly through grass-roots efforts.

Pantaleoni’s passion not only helped raise support for UNICEF programs, encourage individual giving and increase public awareness of the challenges that children in need face throughout the world, but it also created a family tradition of giving back. Her son, Anthony Pantaleoni, is an attorney who has served on the board of directors for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for almost seven years and currently serves as the board’s vice chair; and her granddaughter, actress Tea Leoni, recently joined her father on the board and has been a U.S. Fund for UNICEF ambassador since 2003.

Each Pantaleoni was exposed to and came to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF on his or her own, and in his or her own way. It’s symbolic of the relationship the U.S. Fund for UNICEF historically has had with most of its supporters: exposing them when they’re young to the needs of children worldwide through grass-roots fundraising efforts, such as Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, and hoping the relationship builds an affinity that will translate into support and involvement when they become adults. It’s a strategy that has proved successful, but the organization found it was leaving needed funds on the table.

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From PEOPLE [March 26 issue]

TEA LEONI: “Lipshitz 6, or Two Angry Blondes by T Cooper and The Echo Maker [by Richard Powers]. I like to have a few going at a time. Lipshitz is a great tale: Echo Maker is stunning.”

The Hollywood Reporter
Tribeca Film Fest unveils lineup
By Gregg Goldstein - March 13, 2007

NEW YORK — The Tribeca Film Festival on Monday unveiled its World Narrative and World Documentary Feature Film Competition lineups and Spotlight section slate.

Filmmakers including Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Apted, John Dahl, Ed Burns and Shane Meadows and stars such as America Ferrera, Ray Romano, Tea Leoni and Debra Messing will be featured.

The announced films from the sixth annual fest come from 25 countries and include 10 world premieres. “The festival, while young, continues to attract films expressing compelling views from filmmakers from around the globe and around the corner,” said fest co-founder Jane Rosenthal.

One of the highest-profile entries among the 18 World Narrative competition films is “Entourage” star Kevin Connolly’s black comedy “Gardener of Eden” starring Giovanni Ribisi and Erika Christensen from producer DiCaprio. Other highlights include Pascale Ferran’s French-language D.H. Lawrence adaptation “Lady Chatterly” (billed as “sensual yet never vulgar”), Paolo Virzi’s biopic “Napoleon and Me” (Lo e Napoleone) starring Daniel Auteuil as the famed emperor and Jose Antonio Negret’s Colombian kidnapping thriller “Towards Darkness” (Hacia la Oscuridad)” starring Ferrera.

The 16 World Documentary films in competition include John Reiss’ graffitti docu “Bomb It” and the Afghani murder mystery “Taxi to the Dark Side” from director Alex Gibney (”Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”). Esther Robinson examines her uncle, Andy Warhol’s onetime lover, in “A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and The Warhol Factory,” and Paul Taylor looks at a South African AIDS orphanage in “We Are Together (Thina Simunye),” featuriung a performance by Alicia Keys and Paul Simon.

Among the 17 Spotlight films: Writer/director/star Julie Delpy’s romantic comedy “2 Days in Paris” (Deux Jours a Paris), Burns’ romance “Purple Violets” starring Messing and Patrick Wilson, and Zak Penn’s casino mockumentary “The Grand” starring Romano and Woody Harrelson.

Other high-profile Spotlight films are Jim Brown’s folk music docu “Pete Seeger: The Power of Song” featuring Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, Meadows’ ’80s punk coming-of-age take “This is England,” Apted’s soccer docu “The Power of The Game” and Dahl’s hitman comedy-drama “You Kill Me” starring Leoni and Ben Kingsley.

The fest is set to run April 25-May 6 in its namesake lower Manhattan neighborhood. The rest of its 159-feature lineup will be unveiled over the next few weeks.

Hollywood honey - and UNICEF goodwill ambassador - Tea Leoni

says she doesn’t mind when United Nations earth mother Angelina Jolie is mistaken for working for the UN’s global children’s charity.

“Not that I mind when people make that mistake,” the actress said at a UNICEF fundraiser in the Back Bay last night. “Angelina Jolie is a good example of someone who really puts her time into bettering the lives of so many children.

“What I don’t understand is the media’s criticism (of Jolie’s) involvement in humanitarian aide and why they question her motives and sincerity,” said Tea. “It’s like, ‘Who cares?’ She’s doing a good job and putting so much of her time and money in the causes.”

And Leoni knows something about that. Her grandmother, silent screen star Helenka Pantaleoni, co-founded what would become the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in 1947 and then served as its president for 25 years. While the “Fun with Dick and Jane” star has officially served as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF since 2001, she said the family’s legacy has been with her since childhood.

UNICEF “has always been so much a part of my life beyond trick-or-treating,” the 41-year-old comedian said. “I spoke on behalf of my grandmother at events many times - I think once in Boston.”

But it was after she married “X Files” actor David Duchovny and had kids, Madelaine West, 7, and son, Kyd Miller, 4, that she decided to take a more active role in the organization.

Having children changes everything and it was my position as a mother that made me really raise the intensity level of my involvement,” she said. “I really look forward to when my daughter is old enough to come into the field with me.”

Leoni, who summers in South Dartmouth, was hosted last night by local actress and indie movie producer Christy Scott Cashman at her fine home in the Back Bay.

Apart from setting up last night’s charity event, Cashman has been busy gearing up for next Saturday’s John Hancock Hall premiere of her latest film, “Kettle of Fish,” in which she appears with indie star Matthew Modine.