Some people really do have it all. Apart from inspiring us with their talent, these musicians, actors and stars are motivating us to be better human beings with their charitable acts. Whether it’s raising money for natural disasters, speaking at rallies and mobilizing fans, helping kids or feeding the hungry, these celebs are true inspirations.
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Celebs doing good: heartwarming stories of stars and their causes
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Rihanna
Is there anything this boss babe can't do? Barely into her 30s and apart from her myriad accomplishments as a singer, songwriter, actress, and cosmetics mogul, she is an amazing philanthropist. First, in 2006, Rihanna founded the Believe Foundation at just 18 years old to help terminally ill children. She has performed in countless concerts for charitable causes, donated hundreds of thousands to food banks, disaster relief and environmental issues. In 2012, in honor of her grandparents Clara and Lionel Braithwaite, she founded the Clara Lionel Foundation, to "support and fund groundbreaking education and emergency funds around the world".
Image: Taylor Hill/WireImage
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John Legend & Chrissy Teigen
John and Chrissy are the cutest parents, the most entertaining people on Twitter and no strangers to giving, raising over $2 million for City Harvest NYC to end hunger in the city and donating $200,000 for the Time's Up defense fund for gymnasts who had been sexually abused. The charismatic couple made news last year on Donald Trump's birthday, donating $72,000 per family member to the ACLU, for a grand total of $288,000. John founded the Show Me Campaign in 2007 to break the cycle of poverty and provide every child with a quality education.
Image: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
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Lady Gaga
Fashion icon, actress and musician Lady Gaga can add altruist to her list. She raised over $500,000 for Haiti after the devastating earthquake by donating all of her proceeds from ticket sales and merchandise from a concert. She works to raise awareness of and fight against HIV and AIDS. In partnership with MAC Cosmetics, she donated over $1 million to victims of Hurricane Sandy and joined with the Dali Lama to promote compassion and kindness. Gaga's Born This Way Foundation empowers young people to be kinder and does important research on mental health and well-being.
Image: Steve Granitz/WireImage
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George & Amal Clooney
Our girl crush on Amal Clooney is nothing new, and this powerhouse happens to be married to a pretty cool guy. Together, George and Amal founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice to "advance justice in courtrooms, classrooms and communities around the world." To that end, they've sponsored a resettlement of Syrian and Yazidi refugees in the United States and partnered with Unicef to help educate Syrian refugees.
Image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for March For Our Lives
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Angelina Jolie
So, what does the "Most Beautiful Woman in the World," Hollywood's highest paid actress and mother of six do in her spare time? Devote herself to humanitarian efforts, of course. Passionate about human rights and women's rights, Jolie put her money where her mouth is and established the Jolie Legal Fellowship, funding a network of attorneys that advocate all over the world for human rights. She provides funding for pro-bono lawyers for immigrant children, funded a school for girls in Kenya, and donated $1 million to help Afgan refugees in Pakistan. This is really the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Jolie's efforts. She also started the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation which aims to alleviate rural poverty and protect the environment in Cambodia.
Image: Luiz Rampelotto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Beyonce
Beyhive, rejoice; not only is Queen Bey a model, singer, producer, mom, dancer, and actress, she's also a really good person. She co-founded the Survivor Foundation with Kelly Rowland, started to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, and they donated $2.5 million in total. They continue to give, providing toys to low-income kids at Christmastime. She also started the Beygood Foundation, which works to provide safe, clean water to Burundi, provides after-school tutoring to impoverished youth in Johannesburg and provides art programs to children in Capetown, for starters.
Image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for City of Hope
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Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi
Aside from being the worlds cutest couple, DeGeneres and de Rossi are working hard to make the world a better place. Ellen is changing her viewers' life daily and millions of lives around the world. A noted animal rights activist, she supports numerous charities like The Gentle Barn, which helps abused and neglected farm animals. She helps people, too, founding the Small Change Campaign with Ben Affleck, which benefits Feeding America and works to end hunger in the United States. In 2018, Portia gave Ellen a birthday gift she will never forget: She started The Ellen Fund to support conservation efforts for endangered wild mountain gorillas.
Image: Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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Miley Cyrus
Almost since her Hannah Montana days, Miley has been singing on charity singles and having benefit concerts for various organizations. From earthquakes to Tsunamis, hospitals to homelessness, Cyrus' giving nature shines through, and she makes sure that her time and money are donated. In 2014, she founded the Happy Hippie Foundation to work against "injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth, and other vulnerable populations."
Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
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Karlie Kloss
Model Karlie Kloss has both brains and beauty, and she wants to share it. An avid computer programmer, Karlie wanted to promote girls in science, so she started free camps, called Kode With Klossy, donating over $1 million of her own money. These camps provide opportunities for young women ages 13-18 to learn coding and the fundamentals of computer programming.
Image: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
