Los Angeles - The glitz and glamour of the A-list celebrities in the entertainment industry both fascinate and amaze. However, sometimes the excess and privilege associated with that celebrity can just as easily infuriate us. West Coast publicist Gavin Keilly has found a way to tap that excess for good causes through the uber-chic celebrity gift lounge phenomenon.

After a successful career following college in sales and finance Keilly told me, "About 10 years ago I said to myself, 'Okay, what am I suppose to be doing in the world?' The answer was simple, I wanted to make a difference and I wanted to help others, but I did not want to be a martyr in the process."

Keilly's first client was Sharon Osborne.

So he left sales and finance behind and went to work for the City of Hope Cancer Center as their Director of Development, a position they specifically created for Keilly, "I told them they needed a way to integrate celebrities into their fundraising efforts, because frankly at the end of the day it sells." Successful at doing just that, after a year Keilly formed his own company and was fortunate enough to have as his first client Sharon Osborne.

"She came to me regarding a fundraiser she was doing in her home and said, 'I want to start a foundation for colon cancer [research], but I don't think anyone will come.' I said to her, "Oh yes they will!'" Keilly went on explain that because of the Osbornes' prestige and celebrity people would indeed come, "MTV had to buy a table because they had the Osborne show at the time. CAA had to buy a table because they represented her, Ozzie and Kelly. Finally, SONY had to buy a table because they had contracts with Kelly and Ozzie. So if we sold tables just to them we would cover our expenses for the event."

Of course, Osborne's sphere of connections, particularly celebrity connections, was vaster than she realized and it is Keilly's ability to ask the right questions and pull together the right people that have made his company GBK Productions a success. It was at this first event that the connection between celebrity gifting and altruism first came to Keilly.

Explaining that they always gave a gift to celebrities as a thank you for their support, "The light bulb went off when I gave Ozzie Osborne a watch from Baume et Mercier and Ozzie put the watch in his mouth and we took a picture of Ozzie with the watch in his mouth. Then I said, 'Wait a minute, I can be making money doing this!' That is how all the product placement started."

Gavin Keilly with Monlisa, celebrity jewelry designer for Nehita Jewelry that donated to the Oscar gifting suite and gave pieces to many Oscar attendees,

Giving me the back story to the celebrity gift lounge, Keilly noted that about three years ago the Oscars stopped doing gift bags because of tax ramifications. The IRS essentially said that they were not going to let celebrities accept $100,000 gift bags without taxing them. The celebrities complained and the Oscars initially picked up the tax tab, but it simply got too costly for the Academy. Hence, the gift lounge with dozens of individual vendor gifts for the celebrities to choose from was created to replace the high priced single gift bag, as individual gifts under $600 are not taxable.

The entrance to the uber-chic GBK celebrity gift lounge at this year's Oscars.

"Ninety percent of the items in our gift lounges are valued at $600 or less. The vendors, my clients, are actually there on site at the event to give the celebrity the product. So it is a quid pro quo, meaning they are giving the celebrity the product in exchange for a photo with their product. The client pays me a fee to participate in the events and they also provide, depending on the event, anywhere from 60 to 100 products. It could be anything from watches to I-pods to beautiful wine glasses to jeans. The criterion for letting the vendor in the lounge is based on whether we think their product is something the celebrity will like and want."

I asked Keilly to explain how exactly the not-for-profits benefit from this process, "Basically at every event we do we pick three or four non-profits to actually be a beneficiary and that means a few things. One is that we [GBK] give them 20 perent of our profits from the event. They also get the opportunity to be on site at the event and meet the celebrities and educate them about their causes to hopefully get them involved in their organization. For example, the Humane Society participated at our lounge at the Emmys. They were able to get 10 celebrities to accept invitations to attend their gala and present awards. It would never have happened if they had not been a beneficiary at our lounge."

Keilly went on to note, "Whether it is a celebrity or you or me, one of the biggest excuses people use is that they don't know how to get involved. We provide the opportunity for the celebrities in particular to find out about the charities and how they can get involved. The charity also gets an opportunity for press coverage, which is another win-win for them. I always want the press to mention the charities. Unfortunately, I must admit that about 75 percent of the articles do not mention the charity and get caught up in the gossip and celebrity, but we do our best to get them to include the charity in their coverage."

The Nehita jewelry table in the 2010 GBK Academy Awards gift lounge.

The charities are changed on a rotating basis and Keilly admitted that their own non-profit clients are the first consideration, particularly at their own events. However, many non-clients are featured throughout the year and GBK is constantly approached by not-for-profits seeking exposure. The need at the time is also a priority consideration. Appropriately, Keilly featured two Haiti relief organizations at this year's Oscar ceremony, Hollywood Unites for Haiti and International for Orphans.

Of course, I raised the irony, particularly in the present economic conditions, of a multi-million net worth celebrity browsing a gift lounge to gather up a pile of under $600 gifts. Keilly said, "My answer to that is that the vendors and the charities get more out it than the celebrity possibly ever could." I asked if the celebrities had the opportunity to donate their bounty to charity, "Absolutely! Recently Gabourey Sidibe said that the only way she would come to our lounge at the Oscars was if she could give every single gift to her charity."

So Gavin Keilly has indeed found a way to make a difference without being a martyr in the process. Considering the amount of celebrity driven charitable events in the Hamptons each season I suggested that a few GBK tents might not be a bad idea in the East End this summer. Keilly admitted that a New York office was indeed under consideration.

For more information about Gavin Keilly and GBK Productions go to www.gbkproductions.com.