Harper: We All Want To Help

CSI: New York will be one of more than 70 television shows to promote volunteering as part of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s (EIF) iParticipate campaign, starting the week of October 19.

Dr Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper) was first seen at the end of CSI: NY‘s season six premiere volunteering for the Manhattan Parks Medical Unit, which will feature prominently in the episode airing November 4 at 10:00pm ET/PT. The fictional emergency medical organization is modeled after the real-life Central Park Medical Unit (CPMU). The CPMU is an all-volunteer organization that provides emergency medical services in Central Park.

CPMU president Rafael Castellanos is impressed with the iParticipate campaign, and he is glad to see Harper portraying an organization similar to his own on television. “I’m absolutely ecstatic,” Castellanos said. “You could not ask for better people to be involved with this.”

The CPMU will receive a $10,000 grant from EIF and United Healthcare as part of the campaign. “It helps in a big way,” Castellanos said. “That’s approximately 10% of our annual budget. Every penny goes directly into the operation of the unit.” He added, “If you think about it, we save lives, and we do it for free. We’re out there helping people, usually at the worst times of their lives.”

“My character, he goes the extra mile to volunteer,” Harper said of Hawkes’ participation in the Manhattan Parks Medical Unit. “That’s the message, no matter what you’re doing, or who you are, in New York City there are so many ways to get involved. We have all these great opportunities. This is one example of a great one.” The inclusion of volunteering on CSI: NY is “the greatest thing,” the actor added. “It’s encouraging people to volunteer in a different way. They’re seeing their favorite characters doing volunteer work.”

Harper is on a mission to use his celebrity status to help others. “At the end of the day, what’s the purpose of having the ability to serve and not serving,” he said. “I look at myself, of my celebrity platform, and think, what’s the sense of having it and not using it.” He added, “The thing about our country, Americans, and New Yorkers in particular, we all want to help. There’s real folks who want to help. The problem is, they don’t know how. They don’t know how to get involved. But seeing a character they love get involved can help.”