Celebrities go big with donations for relief to victims of Hurricane Harvey [UPDATED]

harvey, houston

Hurricane Harvey brought over 40 inches of rain, has killed 13 people so far and is expected to dump an additional 10 inches of rain on the waterlogged area by tomorrow.

If you're not familiar with the Houston, Texas area, check out this before and after footage from the New York Times:

The devastation is eerily similar to that of Katrina for those in the south, while northern states are having flashbacks to Hurricane Sandy.

It's times like these that bring Americans together, and that includes celebrities who use their voices to organize relief.

Kevin Hart issued a donation chain challenge to his fellow actors, quite similar to the ALS challenge. He took to Instagram to introduce the Hurricane Harvey Relief Challenge and announced he was donating $25,000 to recovery efforts. But Hart was not done. He created a Crowdwise campaign and then issued a call out to friends, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Beyonce, Chris Rock, Jay Z, Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld and Justin Timberlake.

 “Help me help Houston." 

The Rock accepted the challenge with his own message.

TI pledged 25K as long as Hart donates it to someone other than the Red Cross.

Chris Brown echoed the sentiment, but pledged his help as well.

DJ Khalid, and his adorable son, accepted the challenge as well.

The Kardashian and Jenner clan announced they were giving $500,000 total to the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Ellen DeGeneres is giving $25K to the Red Cross as well as $25K to the SPCA of Texas. The Ellen Show is giving an additional $25,000.

Texas, I love you. #HoustonStrong

A post shared by Ellen (@theellenshow) on

Jack Antonoff opted to donate and match donations specifically to the LGBT community.

Tennessee Titans donated $1 million to JJ Watt's Houston Relief Fund. Watt donated $100,000 himself and his YouCaring fund has hit $3.2 million out of its $4 million goal.

UPDATE - The campaign broke $5 million dollars raised overnight

Over on GoFundMe is country star Chris Young also donated $100,000 of his own money. Young expressed that while his home is most likely destroyed, he is more concerned for those on the ground in Houston right now.

 

Beyonce has pledged to help as many people in her hometown as she can.

"I am working closely with my team at BeyGOOD as well as my pastor (Rudy Rasmus at St. John's in downtown Houston) to implement a plan to help as many as we can," she told the Houston Chronicle.

UPDATE - Sandra Bullock donated $1 million to the cause. 

"There are no politics in eight feet of water," she told People. "There are human beings in eight feet of water."

Embed from Getty Images

Many more celebrities have donated and offered love and prayers.

You can help to with a simple text. Kim Kardashian made it easy and shared the numbers to the Salvation Army and Red Cross on her social media.

 

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