Celebrities auction goodies to aid in Hurricane Katrina relief

Posted Thursday, September 8, 2005 at 2:37 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Charity begins at home and you could take home some really cool movie mementos by helping the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Celebrities are donating all kinds of one-of-a-kind items in hopes of raising money.

Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman, a resident of the Mississippi Delta himself, has helped organize a massive online auction through CharityFolks.com. (Freeman's home escaped damage from the storm.) Among the items up for grabs are tickets to the premieres of various upcoming films with the chance to meet their stars. You'll even get to mingle with various celebrities at each premiere's after party.

Film writer-director Kevin Smith is auctioning some very interesting items on his own web site with all proceeds going to the Red Cross. On his ViewAskew.com site, you can bid on the chance to attend a barbecue at Kevin's house for "steaks, brews, and good convo. And if you play poker, there's a chance you'll win your donation bid back." The other swag on auction includes a walk-on role in Smith's upcoming Clerks 2 film.

Other celebrities are choosing not to go the auction route but making very significant and gracious monetary donations instead. Mississippi native John Grisham made a personal donation of $5 million. John Travolta sent in a planeload of supplies.

Various events are also being held to raise funds for relief. Small events, like a celebrity poker tournament with stars Shannon Elizabeth, Hilary Duff, and Jennifer Tilly expected to participate, are planned as well as massive fundraisers like the pan-network concert broadcast "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast" this Friday night.

Thankfully devastating disasters like Hurricane Katrina don't happen often but it's nice to see that celebrities know how to use their public personas to do whatever they can to help.