Two-time Grammy winner Kenny Loggins ; Grammy- nominated band OneRepublic fronted by lead singer Ryan Tedder, who is currently nominated for two Grammy Awards; and DJ Michelle Pesce are scheduled to perform at the 2012 Grammy Celebration — The Recording Academy’s official after-party.

Additionally, in the celebration’s MasterCard Jazz Lounge, the exclusive event will feature performances by members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Grammy Camp — Jazz Session with current Grammy nominee Arturo O’Farrill. Inspired by Rio’s Carnival, this year’s all-star gathering will be a euphoric event where guests will dance, sing, party and continue to celebrate Music’s Biggest Night. The night’s festivities will be catered and produced by Along Came Mary Productions.

One of the year’s most anticipated events attracting Grammy winners, nominees and celebrities, the 2012 Grammy Celebration will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Feb. 12 immediately following the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

“We’re looking forward to continuing the celebration of Music’s Biggest Night by enjoying some amazing music and outstanding cuisine at our Grammy after-party,” said President/CEO of The Recording Academy Neil Port now. “This year’s festive Carnival will be a most fitting and exciting component of an extremely memorable evening.”

“I most commonly find inspiration in music and travel, and after experiencing the vibrant culture of Brazil earlier this year, the 2012 Grammy Celebration theme became glaringly clear,” said Branden Chapman, Executive in Charge of Production and Chief Business Development Officer for The Recording Academy.

“With the support of hundreds of event professionals, we will symbolically transport our 5,000-plus guests to Rio de Janeiro’s annual Carnival celebration complete with a life-sized samba float, Copacabana and Ipanema beach lounges and favela inspired scenes showcasing the 64 performers and dancers that will entertain the crowd throughout the evening.”

Once again, The  will partner with highly regarded event producers and renowned celebrity caterer Along Came Mary to co-produce and cater the post-telecast Grammy Celebration, overseeing all of the event entertainment, decor, menu, and other logistics.

Led by The Recording Academy, ACM and its design and lighting team will take the vast convention space, equaling the size of three football fields, and transform it into a festive Carnival theme with dancers, acrobats, aerialists, projections, elevated lounges, and floor-to-ceiling water walls.

The exquisite menu includes five buffet stations (Brazilian churrascaria, favelas fabulous, Copacabana nights, Latin flavors, and 42 degrees below) and seven different samba sweets (caramelized banana-chocolate bread pudding, spinning lady sundae bar, passion fruit creme tarts, palma saffron pears galette, Miami spice cheesecake, sugarcane wafers, and macadamia nut squares).

The menu was designed using locally grown meat, produce and cheese, when possible, and all seafood is sustainably produced. Leftover edible food from the Grammy Celebration is donated to local food banks, and all cooking oil used for the event will be recycled.

A mainstay in the entertainment industry, ACM has masterfully orchestrated many of Hollywood’s most distinguished events and has been named top caterer in the nation by numerous publications. The Recording Academy has hired ACM to co-produce the Grammy Celebration for 12 consecutive years.

Image Courtesy of   Dana Nalbandian / Shutterstock.com

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A match offer from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation proved to be the motivating factor in nearly $1 million in personal financial contributions – from more than 8,000 donors across the country – and helped to provide more than 26 million meals this holiday season through Feeding America’s “Give A Meal” campaign.

The campaign was launched this past holiday season and proved to be an overwhelming success. The program was a collective effort to fight the pressing issue of hunger in large and small communities through combined personal donations via Feeding America and Bank of America websites.

As the campaign’s signature partner, Bank of America, through its Gift for Opportunity fund, contributed $2 for every $1 donated via feedingamerica.org/BankofAmerica or bankofamerica.com/give.  Combined with Bank of America’s initial $1 million donation to Feeding America at the outset of the campaign, the successful outcome is a final donation of $2.5 million towards hunger-relief in the United States.

At a time when many individuals and families are struggling to put food on the table, the opportunity for donors to contribute funds locally to food banks, and extend this support through the company’s matching donation, helped motivate and increase donations to the fight against hunger.

Jennifer Mason, who owns the Best Ink Store in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has given to her local food bank (the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia) in the past, but when she saw the chance to more than double her donation; she immediately jumped on the opportunity.

“The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia serves one in four people in our community who do not know where their next meal is coming from.  As a supporter of the food bank, I wanted to leverage my gift of $5,000 and activate Bank of America’s matching donation to generate more revenue to the food bank in support of their programs to feed the hungry,” she said.

Similar stories of motivated donors were heard from across Feeding America’s network of more than 200 member food banks nationwide.

“With one in nine residents in eastern Massachusetts now at risk of hunger, we are grateful to Bank of America’s efforts to help The Greater Boston Food Bank end hunger in our community,” said Catherine D’Amato, President and CEO, The Greater Boston Food Bank. “Their support not only helped to raise additional funds, but also helped to raise more awareness around the critical issue of hunger in America. With their help, we can end hunger here.”

Bank of America’s support of the “Give A Meal” campaign stems from its longstanding commitment to serve pressing needs in the communities it serves.  “Give A Meal” provided an opportunity to engage individuals – on a local level –to help fight hunger in the United States.

“We are thrilled with the response to the Gift for Opportunity fund, and more importantly we are pleased that a significant number of families in need will have access to meals thanks to the generous contributions of individuals across the country,” said Kerry Sullivan, president of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. “With nearly 49 million people in America struggling with hunger, we continue to look for meaningful ways to be part of the solution to help those at risk of hunger and other critical needs.”

Along with Bank of America, a number of other corporate partners, such as Dillard’s, HMSHost, Honey Baked Ham, and Winn-Dixie teamed up with Feeding America for the initiative.

Emmy Award winning talk show host Rachael Ray, celebrity Chef Mario Batali, host of ABC’s The Chew, Australian chef and television star Curtis Stone, rock sensations Benji and Joel Madden, Entertainment Tonight correspondent Samantha Harris, Grammy Award winning singer Monica, Food Network star Ellie Krieger, chef and TV host Sara Gore, TV food critic and host Katie Lee, Extra Virgin husband and wife hosts actress Debi Mazar and chef Gabriele Corcos, and the platinum selling band OneRepublic also lent their name to the effort.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica

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