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As Florida and the Southern United States recover from the catastrophic Hurricanes Helene and Milton, some of the biggest stars of film, music and sports are showing their support.
On Wednesday, Feeding America thanked Taylor Swift for donating $5 million to the organization’s hurricane relief efforts across Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee as the massive Cat. 3 storm approached Florida.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Taylor Swift for her generous $5 million donation to Hurricanes Helene and Milton relief efforts,” said Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot in a statement. “This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms. 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.”
Babineaux-Fontenot also showed her appreciation for Swift’s friends Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds, who donated $1 million to Feeding America.
“Their longtime support of Feeding America in times of crisis has helped our network on the ground before, during and after disasters,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “These funds will help food banks provide basic needs like water, ready to eat food and supplies to communities facing heartbreaking loss and a long recovery.
Since Helene made landfall, Feeding America has deployed more than 140 truckloads of food, water and other relief supplies to 11 food banks.
Also on Thursday, Tom Brady announced a $100,000 donation to relief efforts, which was matched by Give with Gopuff. “Keep those impacted by these storms in your prayers, look out for your neighbors, and continue to help out anyway you’re able,” wrote Brady in a statement on X. “Stay safe, and stay strong, Florida.”
Last week, Dolly Parton made a $1 million donation to Mountain Ways, which provides immediate relief to the East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Appalachian regions. Her donation was matched by her Dollywood Foundation and other businesses.
“I am totally with you because I am part of you,” she said in a press conference. “I have a lot of my own relatives that live here, and when we heard about this it was devastating, not just because it was my family, because all these people feel like my people. We all feel related, and we are in some sort of way. So it just devastated me just to know that we had to suffer like that.”
Parton added, “You’re never prepared, you just try to step up. God has been good to me, and so has the public, and I feel like if there’s anything I can do to give back in any way I can I’m always willing to do that.”
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, resulting in at least 13 confirmed deaths and leaving 3 million people without power. The state is still recovering from the Cat. 4 Hurricane Helene, which left at least five people dead in Florida, and more than 200 deaths elsewhere.
