Beyoncé, Cher, Kim K + Loads More Have Donated Millions To Harvey Victims

The scale and magnitude of the devastation left by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, USA has not been lost on anyone. With at least 15 dead and thousands more left homeless, the days of huge storms and flooding caused by the Category 4 storm have had a profound affect across both the States and the world.

But it’s at times like this when the generosity of our fellow man shines. That includes some of America’s biggest celebrities.

It all started with comedian and actor Kevin Hart, with what he called the “Hurricane Harvey Relief Challenge”.

“I’m challenging a lot of my celebrity friends to follow my lead and donate $25,000 (AUD$31,383) to Hurricane Harvey, to the Red Cross,” he said in the post, tagging a variety of his big-name friends including Justin Timberlake, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jerry Seinfeld, and Beyonce.

While you could argue that asking celebrities to publicly donate may be a tad antithetical to those who don’t want the spotlight and just want to donate anonymously, Hart’s word’s had the desired effect of getting stars to open their wallets. Almost immediately, celebrities started to join in and donate to relief efforts.

The Rock was the first to follow with an Instagram post saying he’d match Hart’s donation.

Musicians DJ Khaled, Nicki Minaj, and T.I. also joined in, matching the $25,000 target, as did Jennifer Lopez and her current boyfriend, baseball star Alex Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Lena Dunham’s beau and ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ songwriter Jack Antonoff vowed to match up to $10,000 (AUD$12,555) in donations to a LGBT centre based in Houston, Texas. His donation was quickly matched by our own Ruby Rose.

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Beyonce, a Houston native, confirmed in a statement to the Houston Chronicle that she is working closely with her family pastor in downtown Houston and BeyGOOD (the philanthropic arm of her business empire) to “to implement a plan to help as many as we can.”

Cher, while not disclosing her donation, has also announced that she is donating primarily to animal shelters in the affected area.

Surprisingly however, two of the biggest donations so far has come from unlikely sources: the Kardashian clan and Sandra Bullock. Both Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian confirmed in separate posts that the family will donate a ginormous $500,000 (AUD$627,577) to relief efforts, with the money to be split evenly between the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army.

Meanwhile, Bullock revealed in a statement to People magazine that she has donated $1 million (AUD$1.25 million) to the American Red Cross. She told the publication that, “There are no politics in eight feet of water. There are human beings in eight feet of water.”

On the corporate side of things, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that anyone using the US iTunes store can donate directly from the platform, while the local NFL team, the Houston Texans, have pledges $1 million (AUD$1.25 million) to relief efforts.

However, the award for most bizarre donation has to go to rapper and living meme Lil B. Despite misspelling Houston, he has pledged in a tweet to offer a free guest rap verse to any musician affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Within minutes, independent rappers were replying and messaging the Based God, taking him up on his offer.

If you want to donate to the relief efforts, you can donate via credit card or PayPal to the American Red Cross HERE.

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