Hurricane Sandy Relief Roundup: Jersey Shore Cast Doing Live Special, ABC Sets Up Star-Studded Phone Bank

One week after the superstorm, a slew of celebrity do-gooders are chipping in to aid victims and get the public to give to relief efforts

By Josh Grossberg Nov 05, 2012 6:50 PMTags
E! Placeholder Image

With the hardest-hit areas of New York City and the New Jersey coastline still in pretty bad shape after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast last week, celebrities continue to do their part to aid storm victims.

First off, the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore has announced they are joining forces with the nonprofit group Architecture for Humanity for a live benefit that will air on the cable channel on Nov. 15.

Per MTV, the one-hour Restore the Shore special will see Snooki, JWoww, The Situation and the rest of the fist-pumping gang gather in MTV's Times Square studios with various celebrity guests, where they'll collect donations to aid the newly created Restore the Shore fund.

ABC/Lou Rocco

Money raised will go toward Architecture for Humanity's efforts to rebuild the famed Seaside Heights boardwalk featured on the hit reality series. The organization, which provides design and construction services after natural disasters, will work with the Borough of Seaside Heights to award grants to local contractors as well as donations to various businesses and residents left devastated in Sandy's wake.

As it happened, Snooki also turned up this morning on Good Morning America for ABC's Day of Giving, a Hurricane Sandy relief effort the network has launched across its numerous platforms.

On GMA, the pint-size reality star manned a phone bank along with The View's Barbara Walters and film and TV stars including Ben Stiller, Andre Braugher and Ethan Hawke. Others, like Michael Douglas and Willie Nelson, sent messages encouraging viewers to contribute whatever they can.

NBC, meanwhile, announced it raised more than $23 million for the Red Cross' storm-relief efforts, thanks to Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together, a telethon it aired last Friday featuring the likes of Christina Aguilera, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Aerosmith, and Jon Stewart.

Celebs themselves dug deep into their pockets to make personal donations.

X Factor mastermind Simon Cowell showed his good guy bona fides by announcing a $25,000 donation to the New York Daily News' Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.

"I'm proud to give my support to the Daily News Sandy appeal," he said in a statement. "This has been a terrible tragedy for so many families who have had their lives and homes destroyed. I hope everyone gets all the help they need to put their lives back together as soon as possible."

UPDATE: ABC announced that it has raised $16.8 million from its Day of Giving relief efforts.

Would you like to help? Text REDCROSS to 90999 ($10 donation) or visit http://redcross.org

(E! Online and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

 

These celebs' Hampton homes could have taken a beating