Several celebrities have come together to provide financial assistance for hurricane relief following the destruction in the wake of Hurricane Helene at the end of September and Hurricane Milton this week.
Several country music singers have organized a benefit concert, and other celebrities have made individual donations to various non-profits focused on recovery or food relief as part of larger hurricane relief efforts.
Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, hit the Southeastern U.S. and caused mass destruction across several states, leaving 230 dead, while Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm, hit Florida on Wednesday.
As the hurricanes have left many people without homes or access to food, water, and power, several celebrities have donated funds to aid hurricane relief efforts.
Taylor Swift
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 11 in Elmont, New York. Swift recently made a $5 million donation to Feeding America to aid with hurricane relief efforts.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Following the onslaught of both hurricanes, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift donated $5 million to the non-profit organization Feeding America, which thanked her for her generosity in a post on Instagram.
In the Instagram post, the non-profit included a statement from Feeding America’s CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, which said, “We’re incredibly grateful to Taylor Swift for her generous $5 million donation to Hurricanes Helene and Milton relief efforts. This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms.”
In the post’s caption, the non-profit added, “Together, we can make a real impact in supporting families as they navigate the challenges ahead. Thank you, Taylor, for standing with us in the movement to end hunger and for helping communities in need.”
Dolly Parton
The country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton also made a generous donation of $1 million to aid hurricane disaster recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene, which ravaged her home state of Tennessee.
Parton announced her donation while speaking at an event in Tennessee on October 4 and said that her Dollywood Amusement Park would match her donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation, which is a non-profit conducting hurricane recovery and relief efforts in East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and the Appalachian region.
The singer’s other ventures, including Dollywood Parks and Resorts, the Dollywood Foundation, a non-profit focused on education, and Dolly Parton’s Stampede and Pirates Voyage, dinner theatre shows, are partnering with Walmart to provide flood relief across the Appalachia region, which was struck with heavy flash floods that destroyed property.
While making her announcement, she broke out into a rendition of her hit song “Jolene” and changed the words to “Helene, Helene, Helene.”
Morgan Wallen
Fellow country singer Morgan Wallen also raised funds for food relief and efforts to collect food in Tennessee through his organization the Morgan Wallen Foundation partnering with the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, according to the Tennessean.
The Morgan Wallen Foundation also made a $500,000 donation to the American Red Cross to help with recovery efforts in Eastern Tennessee, his home region, according to USA Today.
Metallica
In addition to Swift, Parton, and Wallen, the heavy metal band Metallica has also made donations and announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that their non-profit organization All Within My Hands Foundation donated $50,000 each to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit providing food relief, and Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization, to go towards hurricane relief.
The band has also encouraged others to donate towards hurricane relief efforts in their post.
Concert for Carolina
A benefit concert dedicated to Hurricane Helene relief called the Concert for Carolina has been organized for late October and will include Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, Luke Combs, James Taylor, Eric Church, Billy Strings, and others, according to the concert website.
The concert, which will take place on October 26 at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, will send all proceeds to Church’s the Chief Cares Fund, Manna Food Bank, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, Samaritan’s Purse, and Eblen Charities.
Newsweek reached out to Swift’s publicist and Parton’s public relations representative firm for comment via email.
Newsweek also reached out to Wallen’s public relations firm via email and the All Within My Hands Foundation via a form on their website for comment.
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