Recently, Urban Zen had a fantastic opportunity to connect and collaborate with Patti Hansen and Patricia Arquette to distribute survival bags to women living in tent camps in Haiti. The project was borne out of an inspired conversation that our founder, Donna Karan, had with her long-time friend Patti Hansen. Patti and Molly Madden recently launched a new collection of bags called, “Hung on U,” and Donna immediately thought of Haiti. A few conversations later, the idea of the Survival Bags came into being. Patti provided the bags and Patricia Arquette distributed them to the women she works with through her GiveLove Foundation in Haiti.

The beautiful bags were filled with the essential items needed most by the women living under the difficult circumstance of tent life including: underwear, plumpy nut nutrition bars, a poncho, a pair of flip flops, a whistle, a flashlight and purified water tablets.

We had the opportunity to catch up with Patricia Arquette who distributed the bags. We chatted with her about all things Haiti and the experience of giving love by giving out the survival bags.

Here, we share our conversation to you:

Urban Zen: Can you tell us a little bit about the work you’re doing in Haiti?

Patricia Arquette: GiveLove started working in Haiti right after the earthquake in one of the largest tent camps in Citi Soleil. We realized right away that the lack of sanitation was a public health disaster. After learning more about Haiti, it became obvious to us that the lack of sanitation was a systemic problem even before the earthquake and 80% of the rural people had no clean water or toilets. Only the wealthiest people in Port-au-Prince have access to adequate sanitation. We couldn’t turn away from the fact that poor sanitation causes more deaths than HIV and malaria combined, and sadly diseases like cholera kill children and the elderly who are most vulnerable to infection. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be consumed with finding affordable sanitation solutions for the poorest people or have to understand pathogen death rates. The system that we’ve chosen to implement in Haiti is called thermophilic composting, and it’s a very simple and easy way to completely sanitize waste and convert it into compost that can be used for agriculture and reforest Haiti.

Urban Zen: A Conversation with Patricia Arquette

On December 6th, Patricia Arquette, actress and co-founder of GiveLove, traveled to Haiti with sheets and bath towels donated by Overstock.com. Arquette gave the bedding and bath products to the girls living in Don Busco orphanage, where GiveLove built housing. About the donation, she tweeted “The girls are over the moon. U can’t imagine how thankful they were!” We love being able to support the humanitarian efforts of organizations like GiveLove.

Join Patricia Arquette and Give Love to Haiti

Discover the actor within or get help cultivating a scene or character at this 2-hour one-on-one session with Patricia Arquette in Los Angeles, California. Whether you are a budding thespian hungry to learn or a seasoned veteran in need of some elite coaching, Patricia’s acting strengths will facilitate yours.

The proceeds for this item benefit Shine On Sierra Leone

Get Acting Advice from Patricia Arquette

A delegation of silver screen and TV actors are taking part in a visit to Israel this week, during which they will meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.

Already on their trip, the group has met with Palestinian Authority leaders in Ramallah.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday, the actors spoke about their impressions of Israel, including their visits to the rocket-battered town of Sderot, an Ethiopian absorption center and the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem. All expressed a great deal of enthusiasm about visiting Israel, though their excitement appeared to be tempered by some serious travel fatigue.

The week-long trip is being led by the “Creative Coalition,” a politically active group made up of American entertainers, in collaboration with the American Israel Education Foundation, an organization affiliated with AIPAC.

The actors on hand at the press conference included Patricia Arquette (True Romance and TV’s Medium); Richard Webb (known as “that guy from Wings”); Richard Schiff (Toby from The West Wing); and Rob Morrow, who played a Jewish doctor in Alaska on Northern Exposure in the ’90s.

Patricia Arquette spoke first, saying

“We look forward to learning about the Arab side of the conflict as well and how we can as human beings bring art as a healing force.”

Group of Hollywood Stars Get Taste of Holy Land

Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Mary Elizabeth Winstead join “Charlie Swan” with Charlie Sheen

Imagine a city the size of Los Angeles with no safe drinking water and no bathrooms – the effect would be devastating. Toilets may be a taboo topic for some of us, but for Haitian children, men and women, a single clean toilet can be a lifesaver for communities. Founded by Patricia Arquette & Rosetta Getty, GiveLove provides more than 4,000 school children with access to compost toilets and helps numerous communities learn how to compost human and organic waste and to recycle it into nutrient rich soil. Compost sanitation prevents the spread of dangerous diseases and improves public health.

Visit the gallery for more photos.

Patricia Arquette has just completed seven seasons as Allison Dubois on the critically-acclaimed series MEDIUM, for which she has received numerous accolades, including the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and many subsequent Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Arquette recently wrapped shooting Patricia Riggen’s SEE IF I CARE opposite Eva Mendes.

Her feature film credits include Richard Linklater’s “12 Year Movie a.k.a. Boyhood,” which shot the life of a boy from the first grade through high school graduation; Andrew Davis’ “Holes,” starring opposite Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voight; Michel Gondry’s “Human Nature”; “The Badge,” opposite Billy Bob Thornton; and “Little Nicky,” opposite Adam Sandler.

Arquette has worked with a stellar list of directors in such critically-acclaimed films as: Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead” (opposite Nicolas Cage), Rupert Wainwright’s “Stigmata” (opposite Gabriel Byrne), Sean Penn’s “The Indian Runner,” John Madden’s “Ethan Frome,” Tony Scott’s “True Romance,” Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood,” David O. Russell’s “Flirting With Disaster,” John Boorman’s “Beyond Rangoon,” “Lost Highway” (in a dual role for David Lynch), Steven Frears’ “Hi Lo Country” and Roland Jaffe’s “Goodbye Lover.”

Among Arquette’s TV movie credits is “Wildflower,” directed by Diane Keaton, for which Arquette earned a CableAce Award as Best Lead Actress.

The granddaughter of comedian Cliff Arquette (best known for his television personality “Charlie Weaver”), Arquette comes from a family ensconced in the entertainment industry. Her father was actor Lewis Arquette and her siblings – Rosanna, Alexis, Richmond and David Arquette – are all actors.

The proceeds for this item benefit Greenpeace International

I had the wonderful opportunity to go the White House and meet many of the Champions of Change, who are making great strides in incorporating strong arts curriculums into their schools. I was inspired by the principals I met with, and heard about how they were turning their low-performing schools around by incorporating the arts into the core subjects.

Champions of Change: Patricia Arquette

I’m so happy to announce CARGO’s affiliation with GiveLove! Give Love is a charity founded by Patricia Arquette and Rosetta Millington-Getty to develop temporary housing solutions and improved sanitation systems for the people of Haiti.

I had a great conversation with Patricia and was so moved by the work she has been doing that I immediately wanted to help. She spoke so passionately about the need, the work, the improvements being made, and most of all about dignity; about bringing dignity and hope to people who have encountered such misfortune. I often think that each tragedy is a call to each of us to step up. To do something.

Thank-you Patricia Arquette for so graciously answering the call. And thank-you for calling on CARGO to join you. We are honored. In turn, I am calling on each of you to join in. Donate to GiveLove (www.givelove.org). Click on the website and see for yourself how your dollars will be transformed into hope and into action.

Over the next few months, CARGO will be offering products for sale with proceeds going to GiveLove. We will announce these launches on our site and on our Facebook page. Again, we will invite you to join us in giving, in improving, and in celebrating the results when we work together to make a difference.

Conversation Cargo Cosmetics

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