Sophia Bush and her boyfriend Austin Nichols are continuing to fundraise for her half-marathon to help out the victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill. Here are some incentives if you donate:

$50 = Signed 8×10 photo.
$28 = Automatically entered in a drawing to win a One Tree Hill season 7 DVD signed by the whole cast.

You can donate to Sophia’s cause at CrowdRise.com!

JustJared.com can also exclusively reveal that Sophia and Austin will be presenting the Breakthrough in Green Innovation award to Global Green at the 2010 Breakthrough of the Year Awards presented by Crest 3D White.

Sophia is holding a contest for an autographed (by the cast) One Tree Hill Season Seven DVD boxset.

SWEEPSTAKES
Win a Limited Edition One Tree Hill Season 7 DVD Signed by the Cast
Contest ends August 18, 2010 at 8pm eastern time
OFFICIAL RULES
NO DONATION NECESSARY. A DONATION WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
Contest begins August 11, 2010 at 8am eastern time
Contest ends August 18, 2010 at 8pm eastern time
1. HOW TO ENTER: Go to www.Crowdrise.com (the “Website”) and follow the on-screen instructions to make a donation of exactly $28 during the Sweepstakes Period and you will be automatically entered into the Drawing (defined below) for the Sweepstakes – Win a Limited Edition One Tree Hill Season 7 DVD Signed by the Cast.
ONLINE ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY August 18, 2010 at 8pm eastern time. No illegible, incomplete, forged or altered entries will be accepted. All entries become the exclusive property of Sponsor and will not be returned.
2. SELECTION OF WINNERS: Winners will be determined from all eligible entries received in one random drawing (a “Drawing”.) One Drawing will be held on August 18, 2010. The Drawing will be conducted by representatives of Sponsor whose decisions are final on all matters relating to this Sweepstakes. Winners will be notified by email at the email address provided upon entry on or about one (1) day after the date of the Drawing.
3. PRIZES AND ODDS: Limited Edition One Tree Hill Season 7 DVD Signed by the Cast. Approximate Value $999. Odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received. All prizes will be awarded (assuming sufficient number of eligible entries.) Limit: one prize per household. Sponsor reserves right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. No other substitution or transfer of prizes permitted. Sponsor responsible only for prize delivery; not responsible for prize utility, quality or otherwise. Taxes and fees, if any, are the sole responsibility of winners.
4. ELIGIBILITY: Sweepstakes open to individual legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia, age 18 or older as of August 11, 2010 at 8am eastern time, except employees (and their immediate families and members of the same household) of Sponsor and its affiliates, agents, judges and advertising and promotion agencies.

See full rules and disclaimer here

Sophia’s posted a new entry at her blog. Check it out here. We’ve included an excerpt below but you can read the whole entry through the link.

So my Little Voices! I ask you to do this with me. In the spirit of “paying it forward,” in the spirit of saving paper, and in the spirit of making our voices heard, join me in this experiment. Stop sending paper fan mail. Start making a difference. Whatever you would have spent on a letter, a scrapbook, yes, even a bottle of wine (le sigh), pay it forward! Visit my crowdrise page, at www.crowdrise.com/sophiabush, and donate the cost of whatever that letter, or scrapbook, or bottle of wine would have been. Contribute $2.00, $5.00, $10.00, $40.00, or $400.00!! And post a message on my page. Because I actually read those! And I will see your words. You can post a photo, a story, a favorite quote from my show or one of my movies, and I will see it. And I will smile. And we will waste no paper. We will raise money for people who need it. Because your little voice, your one little letter, adds up to $2,250.00 a MONTH! Imagine if we raised that much, and more, this month. And next month. And every month. Imagine how loud our voices will be then.

Not many people can claim they go to the same lengths as Sophia Bush does to keep the Earth green. The One Tree Hill admits she is crazy about recycling.

“I’m kind of crazy about it and have been for a really long time,” she told On The Red Carpet’s Chi-Lan Lieu at the recent “Darker side of Green” debate series event in Los Angeles. “I will go through the airport on two flights to get from L.A. to Wilmington or back, and carry all of my recyclables with me if they’re not recycling on the plane.”

She says, “I think the biggest step towards helping and ‘greening’ your life is to be aware.”

Bush also said she’s glad the green movement has become somewhat chic in Hollywood.

“It’s great that people are realizing that it’s not just a hippie thing to do, it’s something we all need to do,” she said. (Source)

Alrighty guys! Here is my crowdrise page. http://bit.ly/df5Emn Let’s raise some cash for the Gulf! If all 40K of you did $5 … IMAGINE! – Sophia

Sophia has created a crowdrise page to raise money for the Gulf. You can donate through the page.

As for why Sophia has chosen the Gulf as her cause, she’s wrote the following on her page:

I’ve loved the outdoors since I was a little girl. I wanted to spend my Saturdays cleaning up the beach rather than watching cartoons.

I have been weirdly obsessed with Louisiana and Africa since I was little. In the 5th grade a colored a whole bunch of 8×10 sheets of paper like African flags and hung them all over my bedroom. But I haven’t been. Yet.

I have been to Louisiana many times. I’ve lived and worked there. I’ve run, laughing, through humid courtyards at midnight, and discovered unbelievable people there. And someday I hope to have a home in New Orleans, so that I can finally spend as much time there as I want!

Places and people affect me so much that sometimes a conversation with stranger can reduce me to tears. And that’s why I fight for them. For people. For the places, and the ways of life, that they love.

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR ME: Because the Gulf matters. The people matter. A green, clean future for our nation and for our WORLD matters!! And because I’m a fun chick. And … because it doesn’t hurt! Just click.

Check out her page on crowdrise and donate if you can! You can donate no matter what country you live in.

Today’s Sophia’s birthday and we wanted to take a moment to wish her a happy birthday. We hope she has an amazing day!

If you have a twitter account you can send her your birthday wishes at @SophiaBush!

Per her twitter, her birthday wish from fans is:

For my bday I would be honored if all 38,000 of you signed the Declaration of Energy Independence! Make me proud! http://bit.ly/cVg5pO xo

View Sophia and Austin’s photos here and continue on to read the interview.

Louisiana native and “Vampire Diaries” star Ian Somerhalder has been working tirelessly to promote awareness of the dire situation on the Gulf Coast since the spill two months ago. Recently, he’s expressed frustration about the lack of industry and celebrity voices speaking out about the disaster.

“Brad Pitt and people at his level in this industry – they do amazing things for the world, all over the world,” Somerhalder tells Zap2it. “But it seems obvious to me that there’s a certain silence, with this particular issue, and I have my own theories why — politically, why that might be, but I would never discuss that, because they’re my thoughts. It’s not my place to project that on anyone.”

Somerhalder isn’t alone in his quest to bring awareness and aid to the Gulf coast. A number of celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Jenny McCarthy, and Alyssa Milano participated in Larry King’s special two-hour telethon “Disaster in the Gulf: How You Can Help,” which raised $1.8 million for disaster relief. And this week, some of Somerhalder’s fellow CW stars added their voices to the cause as well.

“One Tree Hill” star Sophia Bush has never been a fan of online social networking, but she and her co-star Austin Nichols signed up for Twitter accounts this week (@SophiaBush and @AUS10NICHOLS).

“I’ve never been a person that’s wanted to open up any facet of my personal life to any kind of social media,” Bush tells Zap2it, calling from New Orleans, where she and Nichols have been working with Global Green and learning about the impact of the B.P. oil spill.

“We started accounts because we were so angry about the spill,” Nichols — Bush’s boyfriend on screen and off — explains. “We wanted to get as many followers as we could before we got here so that we could tell people what’s going on.”

“All of my skepticism has been destroyed,” Bush says. “Last night the sheer outpouring of support, and not to sound cliche, but the outpouring of love that we’ve received — I have cried. I am humbled and appreciative.”

That’s not to say that she’s feeling particularly warm and fuzzy at the moment. After two days of touring Grand Isle, speaking to natives, and trying to get answers from B.P.’s contracted workers, she’s furious. “I’m enraged. I’m not even mad anymore. Coming down here I was angry, and leaving this place tomorrow, I am enraged and shocked that any of what’s going on down here is legal in the first place.”

For information about how you can help, check out United Way, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Nature Conservancy. Keep an eye on Zap2it for more from our interviews with Sophia Bush, Austin Nichols, and Ian Somerhalder.

Read the full article by clicking here.

Sophia is nomiated for Choice Actress in a Drama in this years Teen Choice Awards You can vote for her once a day at the link