Taylor Swift Donates $5M to Hurricane Helene and Milton Relief Efforts

Taylor Swift donated $5 million to disaster relief efforts aimed at helping communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the nonprofit Feeding America said Wednesday.

The organization’s CEO, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, said in a statement posted on Instagram that they were “incredibly grateful” for Swift’s “generous” gift.

“This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms,” she said. “Together, we can make a real impact in supporting families as they navigate the challenges ahead.”

Babineaux-Fontenot thanked Swift “for standing with us in the movement to end hunger and for helping communities in need.”

Since Helene made landfall in Florida two weeks ago, Feeding America has deployed more than 140 truckloads of relief supplies to nearly a dozen food banks, the group previously said.

The storm swept across half a dozen states in the Southeast, leaving more than 200 people dead and millions without power. Milton, which slammed into Florida’s west coast as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday night, is expected to deal further damage to the region.

Swift is no stranger to pitching in to help with relief efforts. Last December and in 2020, she made $1 million donations after tornadoes battered her home state of Tennessee. And earlier this year, she sent $100,000 to the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a woman killed in a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade in February.

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The ‘Anti-Hero’ singer is not the only celebrity opening her purse strings in the wake of the hurricane, either. A handful of country music stars, many of them with roots in impacted states, have pledged donations, including Tennessee’s Dolly Parton and Morgan Wallen, North Carolina natives Eric Church and Luke Combs, and Georgia-born Jason Aldean.

Parton announced Friday that she would personally give $1 million to the Mountain Ways Foundation, with several of her companies combining to match her contribution.

It was announced earlier this week that Church and Combs would join forces with a coterie of other North Carolinian superstars to put on a concert in Charlotte and raise money for both short- and long-term recovery. The pair will headline ‘Concert for Carolina’ alongside ‘Carolina In My Mind’ legend James Taylor and Grammy-winning guitarist Billy Strings.

“For all of us dealing with so much, it’ll provide some joy,” Church told USA Today.