Edward Norton, Jimmy Kimmel face off in charity showdown

Mozilla Firefox has challenged fundraisers to step it up over the holidays, offering $100,000 to the one who can bring in the most money through Jan. 10.

Baltimore-born Edward Norton is running 5th, having raised -- as of early this week -- more than $27,000 for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, an environmental organization working to protect the region's ecosystems.

In first place is Jimmy Kimmel, who'd brought in more then $41,000 for Comfort the Children, a group that does work in Kenya.

Norton has been sweetening the pot by offering prizes to donors. For instance, for the biggest giver between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, was to get a poster of "The 25th Hour" signed by him and Spike Lee.

Before that, someone won his director's megaphone from "Keeping the Faith." Anyone who gives at least $29 by Jan. 11 has a chance to win an online chat with Norton and an iPad mini that he signed.

Here's what Norton has to say about why he chose that cause:

"I can see why people would say, 'Why work on something so far from home in such an exotic and remote place?' or 'What do the Maasai people and African wildlife and wilderness have to do with our lives and our challenges?'" he wrote.

"My answer is that every day we learn more about how interconnected the natural systems on the planet are and recognize even more clearly that we all rely on healthy ecosystems to support our lives ... even ones that are far away from where we live."

Other big names in the contest include Jonah Hill, Jordin Sparks, Kristen Bell, Rosario Dawson and Jason Bateman.

Check out Norton's donation page at: www.crowdrise.com/edwardMFC

jill.rosen@baltsun.com

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