There is some good in this world yet. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, some celebrities offered their prayers, anonymous donations, and links to fundraisers. However, others have used their fame and wealth to raise awareness for the victims of the storm. Roughly $1,888,977 has been donated to independent fundraisers created by actors, singers, and football players.
On August 28, comedian and actor Kevin Hart announced his “Hurricane Harvey Relief Challenge” on Instagram. “I’m going to start a real challenge. I’m challenging all of my celebrity friends to follow my lead and donate $25,000 to the Red Cross.” Singers like Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown accepted the challenge (Brown donated $100,000), while actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said that while he personally would donate $25,000, his businesses would also donate the same amount.
In addition, Hart also started a fundraiser site, which raised over $200,000 in less than 24 hours for hurricane relief.
The cast of the TV series Supernatural also started a fundraiser for Texas, that successfully raised over $100,000 for the hurricane relief. Country singer Chris Young opened a GoFundMe page, where he is just shy of $200,000 worth of donations for the people of Houston.
The band Lady Antebellum, after being forced to cancel a show in Houston because of the hurricane, donated all of their merchandise proceeds “towards hurricane relief funds.” And actress Blake Lively and reality star Snooki shared fundraiser pages for texasdiaperbank.networkforgood.com, which provides diapers and baby supplies for families displaced by the floods and damage.
JJ Watt, a defensive end for the NFL Houston Texans, raised over $1,300,000 for the city of Houston on his page. “This money is going directly to the people, not to administrative fees or anything like that,” he told his followers on Twitter.
Praise went to the heroes who were responsible for rescuing those caught in the storm. Singer Jason Derulo said on his instagram page, “Texas is full of Heroes! I'm so proud of our country today! They need our help! Join me and Donate to Red Cross!”
Pray for Texas.
