Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Darren Criss, and Jessica Sanchez may be a world away, but that hasn’t stopped them from raising funds for super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) relief operations.
According to TMZ, Justin is auctioning off the spray cans he used for making the street art “Pray for Philippines,” Pep.ph reports. The spray cans will bear his autograph, with the proceeds going to a yet-to-be-named typhoon relief group in the country.
Glee star Darren Criss, whose mother is originally from Cebu, one of the areas struck by the super typhoon, is urging his Twitter followers to donate $25 to the United Nations World Food Programme with hopes that “people would pass on this plea for donations.”
“I have always been proud of my Filipino heritage, as well as lucky enough to feel the tremendous support of the Filipino community, throughout my life as an artist,” he adds.
American Idol Season 11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez, another famous celebrity with Filipino blood, staged an online concert via Stageit.com with a $10 admission fee to help the victims of super typhoon Yolanda. She is reportedly coursing her donations through the Philippine Red Cross.
Other celebrities that are raising funds and spreading awareness include Bench endorser and 2PM member Nichkhun who auctioned off an autographed shirt and urged everyone to visit www.unicef.or.th via video message.
French-Canadian band Simple Plan also donated $10,000 to the Canadian Red Cross and says, “The band hopes that their modest contribution will inspire other artists and people to donate and invites their fans to join them and pledge money to come to the aid of the victims of this horrible tragedy.”
(Photo of Justin Bieber by NRK P3 via Flickr Creative Commons, photo of Jessica Sanchez by pptfan via Flickr Creative Commons, screencap of Darren Criss from Glee courtesy of Fox)
