As celebrities continue to remain in the public eye, a  few celebrities choose to put their spotlight and star status on charities to help them gain, popularity, awareness, and hopefully, money.

In  August 2014, former Disney star “gone bad,” Miley Cyrus, showed everyone that she might not be so awful after all. At MTV’s Video Music Awards this year, Cyrus won Best Video for her smash hit, “Wrecking Ball.” Instead of accepting the award herself, she invited a homeless man to receive the award for her.

Jesse Helt, 22, met Cyrus through the organization My Friend’s Place which helps homeless youth find shelter, healthcare, and education. Helt left his home in Oregon because he wanted to make it on his own, even if that meant he had no place to live. He had been living in shelters all over Los Angeles for several years.

When Helt accepted the award on Cyrus’ behalf, he said, “I am accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States, who are starving, lost, and scared for their lives right now. I know this because I am one of these people.” As he said this, Cyrus was brushing the tears off her face at her newfound friend.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” co-stars and real life couple, Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, also work to raise awareness for organizations in need of donations. On several occasions, while eating in restaurants, they have noticed paparazzi waiting to take photos of them as they exit. When they leave, however, the photographers are surprised by the images they capture.

Stone and Garfield perform their philanthropic stunts by using messages on paper to promote charities. One one occasion, Stone’s paper read, “Good morning! We were eating and saw a group of guys with cameras outside. And so we thought, let’s try this again. We don’t need the attention, but these wonderful organizations do.” Garfield’s paper listed the names of several charities, including Youth Mentoring and Autism Speaks, as well as their websites. His sign also said, “Here’s to the stuff that matters. Have a great day!”

Not all of the awareness is for people, though. Some furry friends need assistance, too. Actress Amanda Seyfried has become a spokesperson for the Best Friends Animal Society’s Save Them All campaign which brings increased awareness to how people can get involved in the solution by adopting, and spaying/neutering their pets, donating, volunteering and sharing this message with their friends.

Seyfried adopted her own dog, Finn, from a shelter and she says the two are “best friends.” Seyfried has tried to put Finn in the media as much as possible to tell people about her new campaign. She regularly posts photos of Finn on her Instagram page, created his own Twitter account with a whopping 13,000 followers, and has even brought him on popular talk shows, such as The Late Show with David Letterman. Seyfried said, “I can’t bear to imagine the thousands of incredible dogs and cats that are killed in shelters every single day simply because they don’t have homes. When you adopt, you not only save a life, but you end up with an amazing friend. Please adopt your next pet from a shelter or a rescue group. By working together we can Save Them All.”

Philanthropists like Cyrus, Stone, Garfield, and Seyfried use their popularity to make a positive difference in the world. These celebrities are looked up to and considered high in society, so the fact that they are still able to remember people who are less fortunate and actually do something about it, makes them all the special.