Billionaire Taylor Swift, Tom Brady Announce Hurricane Relief Donations: All The Celebrities Who’ve Pitched In

Topline

Celebrities have started to donate their time, visibility and money to relief efforts for the southeastern states devastated by a pair of hurricanes that hit the region in rapid succession and left hundreds dead in their wake, particularly stars with ties to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, both of which were devastated by Hurricane Helene late last month.

Key Facts

NFL Quarterback Tom Brady, who ended his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on Thursday said he would partner with delivery company Gopuff to donate $100,000 to "help get essentials like food, water and first aid" to Floridians in need via the Volunteer Florida Foundation, and said the company will be matching any donations made via "Give With Gopuff,” a new in-app donation tool.

Billionaire Taylor Swift, the richest female musician in the world, donated $5 million to the Milton and Henele relief efforts of the nonprofit Feeding America, the group's CEO said Wednesday, adding that the money will be used to "help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms” (Swift's record-breaking Era's Tour is expected to resume in Miami on Oct. 18).

Country music legend Dolly Parton, who is originally from the small eastern Tennessee town of Pittman Center, ​​said she will make a personal donation of $1 million to Hurricane Helene disaster recovery and that her businesses, including the Dollywood theme park, will donate another $1 million to the Mountain Ways Foundation.

Country singer Morgan Wallen, who is also from eastern Tennessee, donated $500,000 through his foundation to the American Red Cross on Oct. 1 and on Wednesday hosted a donation drive with comedian Theo Von and Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello collecting bottled water, ready-to-eat-food and other goods at a mall in Knoxville.

Heavy metal band Metallica said its nonprofit, the All Within My Hands Foundation, would donate $50,000 each to World Central Kitchen and Team Rubicon to help with first-response efforts for Hurricane Helene.

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Crucial Quote

"This is my home," Parton said at a news conference announcing her donations. "God has been good to me and so has the public, and I feel that if there's anything I can do to give back in any way I can I'm always willing to do that. I want to feel like I'm doing my part."

What To Watch For

Music stars Keith Urban, Luke Combs, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Bailey Zimmerman, James Taylor and others will host a benefit concert called "Concert for Carolina" on Oct. 26 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tickets went on sale Thursday morning and, as of 11:30 a.m. EDT, there were almost 40,000 people in line to buy tickets on Ticketmaster. By noon, every seat except $1,000 "platinum charity tickets" had sold out.

Big Number

$50 million. That's how much has been raised to help families, businesses, and communities impacted by Hurricane Helene on the fundraising website GoFundMe, according to a press release. The company said more than 400,000 people across all every U.S. state have donated, with an average donation amount of $120.

Forbes Valuation

Swift was ranked the 2,109th richest person in the world Thursday with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion earned through the value of her music catalog and her record-breaking Eras Tour.

Key Background

Hurricane Helene hit Florida on Sept. 26 before moving northward and causing devastating flooding in Georgia and on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line. More than 220 people died from the effects of the storm and hundreds more are still missing as recovery efforts continue, largely in Appalachian Mountain communities, some of which North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said were "wiped off the map." Data analytics firm CoreLogic estimates Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in losses for property owners. Less than two weeks later, on Wednesday night, Hurricane Milton slammed into the western coast of Florida and brought with it a storm surge of more than 8 feet near Sarasota and almost two dozen tornadoes. The total number of casualties from Milton is still unknown, though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said “it seems very likely that there were some with the tornadoes." Officials in St. Lucie County confirmed on Thursday there were at least four deaths from tornadoes in the area. Wall Street analysts estimated ahead of the storm that Milton could cause $175 billion in damages or more, CNBC reported.

Further Reading