SEFFNER - Flanked by hundreds of supporters cheering him on, young philanthropist Zach Bonner, a voice for homeless youth since age 6, on Tuesday stepped into a 2,478-mile March Across America to bring attention to the cause.

Bonner, 12, of Valrico, will travel through towns and cities across the nation, accompanied by a documentary film crew from now through September to raise awareness of the thousands of homeless children in America.

His trip will end at a Boys & Girls Club in a crime-ridden section of Los Angeles, where his foundation and sponsors will provide new school uniforms, backpacks and shoes to underprivileged and homeless children.

"It seemed like a good place to send out the message," he said.

Zach started off his campaign from Lazy Days RV Campground, where several hundred people, including 57 students from Carrollwood Day School who are studying poverty, joined him to walk the first mile.

The locally owned Lazy Days has contributed an RV for Zach and his family to stay in as they travel and has helped promote his cause locally and through employee gifts.

Dozens of other companies have also stepped forward, including the Office Depot Foundation, which is donating a backpack for every mile he walks. The 2,478 backpacks will go to needy kids.

"I don't get tired of it," he said prior to Tuesday's news conference. For Zach, his cause is just another part of his life. "Some kids just can't up and get out of homelessness," he said. "Sometimes, that's what keeps me going."

"He's the real deal," said Michael Guillen, a best-selling author and producer of an upcoming movie about Zach and his foundation.

The Philanthropy Project, which is producing the film, expects to start production in May. All box office proceeds will go back into the Philanthropy Project, whose goal is to inspire others to do good deeds for fellow human beings.

The screenplay was written by Patrick Sheane Duncan ("Mr. Holland's Opus") and will be directed by David Anspaugh ("Rudy" and "Hoosiers").

Zach started his Little Red Wagon Foundation after Hurricane Charley roared through Port Charlotte in 2004, leaving so many without food or water. His first act of philanthropy was to spend four months collecting needed supplies for hurricane victims.

Since then, he and his sponsors have helped scores of homeless kids.

"Over 2,000 school-age kids are experiencing homelessness in Hillsborough County," he told the audience at Lazy Days. He urged the youngsters in the crowd to think of ways they can help, too.

People can track and help sponsor Zach's journey on a dedicated AOL Web site, www.March

AcrossAmerica.com, and a variety of events will take place along the route with local homeless shelters, churches, politicians and others.



You can find inspiration anywhere...including snack food.
A Bakersfield woman is claiming divine intervention after she said she found a cross seared into a potato chip.

Amanda Biezad was about to eat the Lay's potato chip when she discovered the cross.

She said she's never seen anything quite like it, but isn't ready to call it a miracle just yet.

"I don't know, it's either divine inspiration or some random rogue person that decided to stick it into the bag of chips. I don't know, but I think it's cool," Biezad said.

She said she usually pays attention to what she eats and is glad that she didn't take the next bite.

"I was talking to my family while I was eating chips," Biezad said. "As I took a chip, I saw the cross. I thought, 'Wow. Wait a 'minute'. Then I just stopped and stared at it. My family was looking at me like I was crazy. I told them there is a cross burned into the center of the chip."

She named it the Cross Chip and stores it in a box to keep others from eating it.

"My boyfriend always jokes with me that he is going to eat it," Biezad said. "Now I keep it hidden in a box to keep it safe. Maybe one day I will get one of those plastic cases."

She said she hopes the chip inspires others to keep the faith.

"I know it's just a potato chip, but there is a cross in it," Biezad said. "Everybody these days is looking for a sign of hope, something positive."

And just because, here is potato chip heart, potato chip Mary and potato chip Jesus...

Jon Bon Jovi never wanted the world to see these incredibly awesome photos of him and half-naked women from the '80s -- but they're coming out now ... and TMZ has this peek inside the vault.


Before he was rock 'n' roll's poster boy for family values, Jon Bon Jovi was just another grinning heartthrob up to his hairy chest in groupies. Well, that's according to newly uncovered photos of the rocker showing him splayed out on a bed with a quartet of half-naked beauties wiggling around him.

The photos were snapped by photographer Ross Marino in 1985, a year before the rocker's band Bon Jovi released their breakout album 'Slippery When Wet.' Admittedly, it was staged as part of a possible effort to toughen the band's image following two lackluster albums and rising competition from more scandalous groups like Motley Crue.

But the photos didn't surface until now, with the release of 'Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi,' a tell-all book by the band's former manager, Rich Bozzett. Why? At the time the singer was in a relationship with his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley, who became his wife four years later. Bon Jovi's sex appeal was in his big hair, smoldering looks and tight clothing. He didn't need to show off with naked chicks.
So for years he urged Bozzett to destroy the pictures, fearing they would embarrass the love of his life and conflict with his unique image in the world of rock 'n' roll as a seemingly wholesome family man.

The Bon Jovi love story began in the late 1970's at Sayreville (N.J.) War Memorial High when he fell for his classmate Dorothea Hurley. He even copied her test answers in history class.

After high school he delved into the business of rock music, making demos, working at a record studio and forming what would become Bon Jovi. It was in those early years of the band that he and Hurley split up and the rocker even briefly dated actress Diane Lane.

"I've not been a saint. I've had my lapses," Bon Jovi, now 48, has said of that time period.

Just how he won Dorothea back plays out like a Bon Jovi song (or a scene straight out of John Cusack's 'Say Anything'). According to a 2007 profile piece in Parade magazine, Bon Jovi went to her parents' house in New Jersey, stood on the front lawn and called out to her that he needed to see her. His band was getting a gold record at a show at the Meadowlands arena that night, and there was no one he wanted there more.

They tied the knot in 1989 at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas and have never looked back. Together they have four children, Stephanie Rose, Jesse James, Jacob and Romeo.

Bon Jovi rarely talks about his life at home, but when he does it always reads like a love letter to his wife of 21 years.

"I think people see the cliché of the Rock Star," he told Parade a few years back. "We're supposed to get married every three years, trade in, trade out -- I don't even want to dare say trade up!"

"I made a good deal the first time," he adds. "If Angelina Jolie came in today, I wouldn't trade."

In other interviews he has admitted to being "cognizant of the fact that relationships have been breaking up around us, but it hasn't made me cling to her or the other way round. And although everyone says we're about the only couple still together in the rock business, it's not really true," citing Bono and his wife Ali and Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa.

Maybe Jon just didn't want this picture with Michael Jackson to be released...(Wait!!!  Where is Michael's hand?!?)





Idol reject Ian Bernardo sues American Idol for $300 Million!

A gel that can help decayed teeth grow back in just weeks may mean an end to fillings.

The gel, which is being developed by scientists in France, works by prompting cells in teeth to start multiplying. They then form healthy new tooth tissue that gradually replaces what has been lost to decay.

Researchers say in lab studies it took just four weeks to restore teeth back to their original healthy state. The gel contains melanocyte-stimulating hormone, or MSH.

We produce this in the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland just behind the bridge of the nose.

Recent studies suggest MSH may also play a crucial role in stimulating bone regeneration.

As bone and teeth are very similar in their structure, a team of scientists at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research in Paris tested if the hormone could stimulate tooth growth.

Their findings, published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano, could signal not just an end to fillings, but the dreaded dentist drill as well.

Decay is caused by bacteria, called streptococcus mutans, that live in the mouth and feed on sugar in the diet. Once the bacteria stick to the enamel, they trigger a process called demineralisation - they turn sugar in the diet into a harmful acid that starts to create holes in the teeth.

For decades, the main treatment for cavities has been to 'drill and fill'.

The new treatment is painless. And although fillings halt decay, they can come loose and sometimes need refilling.

Experts believe new tooth cells would be stronger and a permanent solution.

The Pope in a Cap...Now how about that!

"I'm excited to represent the Jockey brand," Tebow said in a statement posted on the Jockey website. "I've long been a fan and consumer of Jockey and I'm looking forward to a great relationship with such a respectable and innovative company."

Two questions remain: Can "Tighty Whitey" Tebow jockey the Broncos to glory, or will he simply "stain" the franchise?

In other news, the Denver Broncos still have not signed Tebow.







Idol reject Ian Bernardo sues American Idol for $300 Million!