When celebrities do great things we can forget all the plastic, attention seeking palaver that happens the rest of the time. John Travolta’s trip to Haiti is one such exceptional moment and he isn’t alone. It is really quite inspirational the way the entertainment industry rallies when there is a crisis somewhere in the world and the Haitian earthquake disaster has been no exception. Over 200 000 Haitians are dead and many more are ill and desperate because of the devastating earthquakes that rocked the nation last month.

Travolta Pilots Relief Flight

If you haven’t already heard, John and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, piloted their own 747 to Haiti packed with tons (literally) of rescue provisions for the Haitian people in need. The gesture just seems somehow even more impressive because you kinda get the feeling that they might have been sitting round the living room when they heard of the earthquake. You can picture them looking at each other and John maybe saying something to Kelly along the lines of, “Right, call the supermarket and the army supply store for provisions and get delivery will you hon.” I picture them driving over to the airport popping the gas nozzle into the plane, hopping in the front seat and flying off. Just another day. It probably doesn’t work that way even for the Travoltas but I like to imagine it.

Stars Offer Big Money

Other celebrities fighting the good fight and helping out the folks in Haiti are Brangelina who apparently gave a million straight away; Leonardo DiCaprio and Sandra Bullock were also in for a cool million, Madonna parted with $250 000 of her own money but it was British supermodel Giselle Bundchen who was apparently the most generous, giving 1.5 million dollars U.S. to the relief effort.

The Stars Shine for Haiti

Of course George Clooney deserves top kudos for his million dollar donation and quick thinking. George organized the series of concerts in support of the disaster relief effort. Brad Pitt got involved in this endeavour as well, and the concert was also supported by such superstars as Madonna, Jay-Z, Chris Martin, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J Blige, Shakira and Bono.

While the singers sang, celebrities staffed the phone lines taking pledges from viewers; if you made a donation your phone may have been answered by director Steven Spielberg, singer Stevie Wonder or TV star Ellen DeGeneres. If that doesn’t impress you, other stars that took telephone pledges from viewers included Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, Cameron Diaz, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Robert Pattinson, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller, Michael Keaton, Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton.

Whew and Wow! That is some impressive turnout. To keep the money flowing a few of the kind song birds listed above are cutting an album that will raise additional funds for the effort.

A World Effort

The concerts took place in New York, London, Los Angeles and Haiti and were broadcast live in each of these countries. YouTube and MTV also broadcast live around the world and viewers were invited to help support the relief program. The program could also be seen online and live on Bing, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN, Yahoo!, CNN, VH1.com and Rhapsody.

The entire effort is of course reminiscent of the entertainment industry’s ‘We Are The World’ campaign for Africa a few years back. An apt and appropriate 2010 remake of that song is being created to further support the relief effort.

Apparently hundreds of millions of dollars were raised from the celebrity telethon, so I think we can call it a successful event. Hopefully it will make a big dent in helping the sick and injured, and for survivors to begin building their lives.

Way to go Hollywood.