During the weekend hundreds of volunteers drove their cars loaded with supplies to devastated communities. On Sunday, some 600 New Yorkers piled onto buses to hand out food and water as part of New York Cares. And corporate America – from retailer Macy’s to airline JetBlue – is raising money for relief operations.
The bulk of the money is going to the American Red Cross, which had raised $35 million as of Friday. However, that number will rise sharply: On Friday night alone, an NBC telethon raised another $23 million.
In addition, over the weekend, sports teams kicked in with some major contributions: Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, pledged $1 million; the National Basketball Association and its players’ association committed to another $1 million; Madison Square Garden donated $500,000 and said it will host a telethon.
And Dwayne Wade, the Miami Heat star, said he would donate his pay for a game – about $210,000 – after he was criticized for tweeting about the awful traffic to get into New York for a game against the Knicks.
Still more money will flow in on Monday: Disney/ABC has designed Monday as a “Day of Giving” across its network and syndicated programming.
