Good Deeds

FIRST LOOK: Vanessa Williams Stars in New Cancer PSA

03/14/2008 at 10:15 AM EDT

Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams is hitting the Web Friday in a new public service announcement – and PEOPLE has your first look at the 60-second clip, in which she appears with designer and colon cancer survivor Carmen Marc Valvo. The PSA is aimed at educating people about the importance of getting screened. "Colon cancer isn't glamorous, but we have to be vigilant about getting people comfortable with talking about it," says Williams, working on the campaign with the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance and pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis. "My good friend Carmen is living proof that colorectal cancer is treatable. As a first step, we want to encourage people to talk to their doctors about getting screened." For more info, go to nccra.org.