The Power of Celebrity: Celebs Help Haiti

When the earthquake struck Haiti a week ago, celebrities were among the first to respond. Rapper/Producer Wyclef lead the charge, raising an average of two million dollars a day for his Yele Haiti Foundation (Yes, there was a great deal of controversy which followed, but we’ll save that discussion for another time). In addition, Clef will team up with CNN’s Anderson Cooper to co-host George Clooney's MTV telethon this Friday which will also air on CBS, NBC, ABC and almost every other major network simultaneously. . Donations will go to Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF and Yele.

Sandra Bullock, Brangelina and Gisele have all pledged $1 million each. Madonna forked over a quarter of a mil.Meanwhile, others are making their way to the ravished country. Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers plans to visit the country and help out and John Travolta has arranged for a plane to take down some volunteer ministers, supplies and medics.Tennis star Roger Federer has organized a massive tennis event featuring stars such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams and Samantha Stosur to take place at the Australian Open. The entry fee is a minimum donation of $10.Lady Gaga has also made use of Twitter to encourage fans to give to the cause – she announced that she will use her January 24th concert in New York as a fundraiser. 100% the money from all merchandise purchased will go to earthquake relief.Finally, there are talks that Jay-Z, Swiss Beats and Bono are working on a song a la ‘We Are the World” which will benefit the cause.Surely there will be more to this story as the week progresses. I’ll keep you posted