Yahoo Movies Sandra Bullock donates $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief fund
Sandra Bullock has donated $1 million to the Red Cross, to help the relief effort following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
Nearly 40 inches of rain hammered the city of Huston and the surrounding area earlier this week, leaving many thousands of people homeless.
Bullock said she hoped that through the disaster, which has claimed the lives of at least 30 people so far, people in an increasingly politically polarised US could come together.
“There are no politics in eight feet of water,” said Bullock. “There are human beings in eight feet of water.
“I’m just grateful I can do it. We all have to do our part.”
“This is an incredible gift,” said Elizabeth Penniman, Vice President of Communications for American Red Cross national headquarters, told People magazine.
“We’re so thankful. It’s times like this when we do receive such an incredible amount of support. Especially during times of disaster, people see what’s happening in Texas and our hearts all go out to them. Having someone like Sandra Bullock make this kind of commitment, it helps bring people together and open their hearts and be even more generous.”
Bullock joins a host of Hollywood folk donating to the relief effort.
Disney announced its own $1 million donation to the Red Cross, with CEO Bob Iger saying: “Our hearts go out to everyone in the devastating path of this historic storm.”
It added that it would match dollar for dollar the donations from its employees.
A post shared by Kevin Hart (@kevinhart4real) on Aug 27, 2017 at 4:07pm PDT
After donating $25,000, actor Kevin Hart launched his ‘Hurricane Harvey Relief Challenge’, in which he called upon celebrity friends like Dwayne Johnson, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Justin Timberlake to do the same.
“I think people are in bad shape, they need help,” he said in a post on his Instagram page.
Johnson also posted a video message on his Instagram page after donating his $25,000.
A post shared by therock (@therock) on Aug 28, 2017 at 4:27pm PDT
Hart later upped his donation to $50,000, before launching a funding page which, at the time of publishing, was nearing $1 million in donations from the public.
The hurricane has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, but is heading towards Louisiana, where residents are braced for further rain and high winds, as flood water continues to rise in the hurricane’s wake.
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