11 Celebs Who Do the Honorable Thing With Their Monstrous Wealth by Donating to Charities
There are some who plainly assume that because celebrities have some of the highest incomes in the world, they selfishly hoard their wealth, spending it only on themselves. And while that may hold marginal truth about some celebrities, it doesn't at all describe most of them.
Despite popular belief, many are involved charitably in some way, either through donations or founding charities of their own. Here are some of the more altruistic celebs in Hollywood and the awesome causes they support.
The longtime WWE star is a devout supporter of the Make-A-Wish foundation and grants any wish requested of him when he's available. As of this year, he's officially granted the most wishes in the foundation with more than 400 wishes fulfilled for sick children.
His involvement in the battle against cancer has been more than admirable, and despite being a savage in the ring, Cena has proven himself one big benevolent softie outside of it.
Along with supporting 11 different charities, in 2012 Washington adopted one of the worst schools in the U.S. and worked to revitalize its education with the government funded Turnaround Arts Initiative.
This year, she became an ambassador for Allstate Foundation’s Purple Purse Program, to help raise awareness and funding for female financial exploitation, a huge component of domestic abuse that has long gone unaddressed.
Taking a different route than most charitable celebs, the renowned actor decided to start his own initiative Water.org, a rapidly growing movement, is centered around bringing clean water and functional toilets to homes in developing countries that don't have them.
The best part? Damon isn't just funding the initiative from afar. He's been an integral part of infrastructure analysis and financial planning and visits the countries and communities they support on an almost monthly basis.
If every celebrity couple - or every wealthy couple for that matter - were as philanthropic and others-focused as Brangelina, the world would be a significantly better place.
From disaster relief to human rights, cancer and world peace, Jolie and Pitt support over 40 combined charities together, along with operating their own foundation, and have donated well over $50 million to date. In short, they're two of the most admirable people in all of Hollywood - hell, maybe even the world.
Together with friends, and Oceans movie co-stars, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, he co-founded the Not On Our Watch foundation, an initiative dedicated to providing comprehensive relief from war zones, such as Darfur, Zimbabwe and Burma.
The acclaimed actor also donates all of his earnings from his advertisement appearances for Omega and Nespresso to various charities, and together with wife Amal, they sold their wedding photos and donated the earnings from them as well.
Aside from performing random acts of kindness for her fans, like when she gave several of them gifts for Christmas last year, the country singer turned pop star donates a great deal of her earnings to charities and non-profit initiatives - 28 to be exact.
Over the past few years, she's donated to UNICEF, Feeding America and the Red Cross, and this year, she donated all proceeds from the sale of her single “Welcome to New York” to New York City Public Schools.
When she's not killing it on tour, or dropping yet another revelational album, Queen B is out supporting those with far less. Although, she doesn't like to make a fuss about her contributions.
Last year, Beyonce donated $1 from every ticket to her shows during her "On The Run Tour" to the Shawn Carter Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping fund higher education for underprivileged young people. She also helped found Chimes For Change, an organization that helps women in need across the globe.
Most recently the ravishing Harry Potter star asked those buying her a birthday present to donate the money they would've spent to charities and people in need.
More notably, Watson is also a prominent supporter of UNICEF, was an ambassador of good will from the United Nations, a creative adviser for the fair trade fashion line PeopleTree, and helped establish HeForShe, a movement that fervently promotes gender equality.
The famous comedian and actor is a firm supporter in the fight against Alzheimer’s, a disease he was impacted by when his mother in law was diagnosed with the disease at 60. Rogen formally addressed the Senate Subcommittee regarding the subject, lobbying for more funding for the seemingly understudied disease.
Rogen also co-founded Hilarity For Charity, where he performed with comedian friends like James Franco and Jeff Goldblum and raised more than a million dollars for the cause.
As the daughter of two journalists, Wilde has always wanted to be a voice for those without one. In 2009, she joined the organization Artists For Peace & Justice, helping Haitian children receive education, sanitary water and food.
The actress also co-founded Conscious Commerce, an eCommerce forum that highlights charitable makers and designers whose product proceeds go to a good cause.