'Hand In Hand' Hurricane Relief Telethon Raises Over $44 Million
By James Dinh
September 13, 2017
Hollywood's plea for relief during Tuesday night's (September 12) Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief telethon, which was broadcast on iHeartRadio Hit Nation and 17 different networks, helped raise over $44 million dollars, as per a new report from ABC News.
Originally meant to help raise funds for victims of Hurricane Harvey and then extended to Hurricane Irma relief, the one-hour broadcast gathered $14 million during the actual show and $30 million in the hours that followed. However, it wasn't just participants at home that shared their generosity. While Stephen Colbert announced mid-telethon that Apple was donating $5 million, Jimmy Fallon revealed Albertsons Cos. and Merck each gave $1 million. Houston Rockets star Chris Paul said that the NBA Players Association would match any professional basketball player’s donation up to $20,000 on top of their initial $500,000 donation.
Not only did the program air live from New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, but it also included a hefty amount of support from the stars, including George Clooney, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Drake, Julia Roberts, Leonardo Dicaprio, J Balvin, George Strait, Hilary Duff, Jamie Foxx, Faith Hill, DJ Khaled, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Barbra Streisand, Justin Timberlake and others.
You can still make a difference to the cause by donation via phone, text and online, so head over to the Hand in Hand website and make your contribution.
PHONE LINES WILL STAY OPEN THROUGH THE NIGHT. KEEP CALLING 1-800-258-6000 or visit https://t.co/s83ifdAVdB to DONATE#HandInHand
— Hand In Hand 🤝 (@handinhandfund) September 13, 2017
Photo: Getty Images