Stars open their wallets for Harvey relief

Stars including Kevin Hart, Katy Perry and country singer Chris Young are lining up to help raise money for flood relief efforts in Houston.

Hart has pledged $25,000 (U.S.) to victims of Hurricane Harvey. In an Instagram video posted Sunday, Hart said he was starting a celebrity challenge to donate money to the cause. Beyoncé, Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jerry Seinfeld are among the stars he called on to do the same.

Young said in a Twitter video that he has started an online fundraiser for the Red Cross and donated $100,000 to it.

Perry urged viewers to donate while hosting MTV’s Video Music Awards on Sunday night and tweeted a link to the Red Cross’ donation efforts to more than 100 million followers on Twitter.

Nashville-based Monarch Publicity said in a news release that Young lived in Arlington, Texas, before signing with RCA records and has family and close friends in Hurricane Harvey’s path.

Young says in the statement that communities in Texas “are going to be dealing with so much damage and loss of life for a long time to come.”

Young’s donation through his foundation will benefit the Red Cross and other disaster relief groups. He says during tough times, “you turn to your friends to help those in need and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Young is a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., about 40 km southeast of Nashville.