This morning, at a press conference, DC Entertainment announced an unprecedented relief effort on its part, the “We Can Be Heroes” campaign, intended to bring relief to the Horn of Africa.  Rallying behind their famous (and newly-redesigned) heroes of the Justice League, DC Entertainment and its parent company Time Warner are committed to raising $2 million over the next two years.  This announcement was delivered by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros.; Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group; and Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment.

From DC’s press release:

We Can Be Heroes will support the efforts of three humanitarian aid organizations working in Africa—Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps—as part of the global effort to fight the current hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.  The region is suffering its worst drought and famine in over 60 years, with 13 million in need of critical assistance and 250,000 facing starvation in Somalia alone.  Each partner organization was chosen for its track record of effective and expeditious humanitarian aid efforts in Africa.

DC has launched WeCanBeHeroes.org, a homepage where fans can make donations, which DC will match by 100%, sign up for the email mailing list, get involved via Facebook and Twitter and best of all, purchase incredibly cool swag emblazoned with the silhouetted artwork for the campaign such as tee shirts, iPhone covers and water bottles.  So you can broadcast not only your nerdiness to the world, but your concern and humanitarianism!

The heroes of the Justice League– Aquaman, Batman, Cyborg, The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman– were chosen around whom to build this campaign due to their heroic nature, but also due to the fact that “when they band together as the Justice League, they become an unstoppable force for good and right in the universe.”  Though many of us feel that we are powerless against such insurmountable odds, when we all work together we too can create real change for the better in our world.  Astute fans will recognize that these are the “New 52” versions of these iconic characters, which seems to indicate for the first time that DC and Time Warner are fully committed to making these their definitive iterations of these heroes.

Each hero is given a bio on the website and assigned a particular heroic attribute necessary to drive change– Aquaman/Responsibility, Batman/Justice, Cyborg/Communication, The Flash/Drive, Green Lantern/Willpower, Superman/Strength, Wonder Woman/Equality.  Very cool how these all actually tie into their comic book personae, indicating that DC didn’t just do this on a lark!  Some real thought went into tying the DC heroes with this charity.  As it reads on their bio page, “Banding together to resolve threats to immense to combat alone.”

From the press conference:

“This is a tragic situation affecting millions and millions of people.  Everyone has the ability to be a part of the solution and efforts such as We Can Be Heroes help bring us closer to that goal,” said Dr. Jill Biden, who visited refugees in Kenya in August and has worked to raise awareness of the crisis.  “I commend the efforts of DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. and other organizations who are using their global reach to help raise awareness of the crisis.”

For additional information on the three partner charities visit:
www.SaveTheChildren.org
www.Rescue.org
www.Mercycorp.org