Apple donates $5 million to 'Hand in Hand' hurricane relief telethon
If you are a resident of Florida, I hope you have evacuated by now. Remember folks, you can replace things, but not your life. Hurricane Irma is looking like a monster -- it will almost certainly cause severe destruction in the state. I pray that there are no further fatalities -- some people living in the Caribbean have already died as a result of Irma. It is heartbreaking. This storm follows Hurricane Harvey which left a path of sadness in Texas.
Thankfully, individuals and organizations have both big hearts and big wallets. There has been a huge outpouring of support for those impacted by these natural disasters. In fact, on September 12, there will be an hour-long, commercial-free, star-studded telethon called "Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief" which aims to raise money for folks affected by Irma and Harvey. Today, Apple pledges an impressive $5 million to the initiative.
"On behalf of everyone at Apple, our hearts go out to the millions of people whose lives have been disrupted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and the many more still bracing for Irma's impact. We applaud Hand in Hand for bringing together people from all over the country to help one another at a time when so many desperately need it. In addition to Apple's direct contribution to the relief and recovery efforts, we're making it easy for anyone in the US to make their own donations to Hand in Hand through the App Store and iTunes," says Tim Cook, CEO, Apple.
As Cook said, the iPhone-maker isn't stopping there, however. Hand in Hand explains, "Apple is also making it easy for customers to donate directly to the Hand in Hand relief efforts. Starting this weekend, anyone with an iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC running iTunes can donate directly through the App Store and iTunes. Apple's donations, and those customers make through the App Store and iTunes, will go directly to hurricane relief efforts."
If you want to donate to Hand in Hand, you can do so now here. If you prefer to do it through iTunes or the App Store, you should be able to do that starting tomorrow. At the moment of this publication, Friday night, the links on Apple's services were not yet active.
Be sure to tune into the broadcast on September 12 at 8pm ET. It will be on all the major networks such as ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS, plus cable channels like HBO, MTV and more. While it will be live on the East Coast, the West Coast will only get a taped version at 8pm PT. Luckily, it will also be shown live on YouTube so everyone around the world can experience it live at the same time.
A list of celebrities that will be at the telethon is below, and it is absolutely massive. Hand in Hand promises even more stars will be added too.
- Anthony Anderson
- Bun B
- J Balvin
- Beyoncé
- Justin Bieber
- Connie Britton
- George Clooney
- Andy Cohen
- Stephen Colbert
- Sean "Diddy" Combs
- Terry Crews
- Billy Crystal
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Robert De Niro
- Drake
- Hilary Duff
- Jourdan Dunn
- Jimmy Fallon
- Jamie Foxx
- Richard Gere
- Tom Hanks
- Marcia Gay Harden
- Faith Hill
- Kate Hudson
- Joe Jonas
- Catherine Zeta -Jones
- Nicole Kidman
- Karlie Kloss
- Matt Lauer
- Jay Leno
- Zion & Lennox
- Jared Leto
- Eva Longoria
- Rob Lowe
- Matthew McConaughey
- Tim McGraw
- Tracy Morgan
- Norah O’Donnell
- Gerardo Ortiz
- Chris Paul
- Tyler Perry
- Dennis Quaid
- Questlove
- Jeremy Renner
- Julia Roberts
- Kelly Rowland
- Adam Sandler
- Travis Scott
- Ryan Seacrest
- Blake Shelton
- David Spade
- Gwen Stefani
- Jon Stewart
- Michael Strahan
- George Strait
- Barbra Streisand
- Sofia Vergara
- Kerry Washington
- Chandra Wilson
- Oprah Winfrey
- Rita Wilson
- Reese Witherspoon
Photo credit: Olha Insight / Shutterstock