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Leonardo DiCaprio donates $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief

Following Sandra Bullock’s personal donation of $1 million to the Red Cross, to help the relief effort following Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Leonardo DiCaprio has followed suit.

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has pledged $1 million to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund, a newly founded non-profit fund which will help the recovery of the areas affected by the storm.

“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation,” said United Way Worldwide president and CEO Brian Gallagher. “Responding to Hurricane Harvey requires the best of all of us — and that’s what this gift represents.”

“We hope others will step up and support the United Way and other organizations,” said Terry Tamminen, CEO of the DiCaprio foundation.

The star has previously pledged funds from his foundation to relief work following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, and the earthquake and tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean in 2004.

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart yesterday launched a challenge to celebrity friends to donate $25,000 dollars to the relief fund, with the likes of Dwayne Johnson taking it up.

A funding page set up by Hart has so far topped donations of $1.2 million.

The storm battered the southern coast of Texas this week, leaving at least 30 dead and many thousands homeless.

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