Madonna on Haiti: "We Must Act Now"
Madonna says she has donated a $250,000 to help the people of Haiti - and she is urging her fans and friends to do the same.
The pop queen said Friday in a statement that her prayers are with the people of Haiti. She says she donated to Partners In Health, a longtime health care provider there.
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She is asking friends and fans around the world "to join me collectively to match my contribution or give in any way you can."
The singer says "we must act now."
The international Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in the earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.
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Other Hollywood stars joining in the effort:
• Around a dozen U.S. television networks are teaming up for an all-star telethon for Haitian earthquake relief on Jan. 22.
A statement released by MTV Networks on Friday says "Hope for Haiti" will be shown at 8 p.m. EST. Networks showing the telethon are ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, the CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT. It will also be available internationally.
Haitian-born entertainer Wyclef Jean will helm the show from New York, and George Clooney will host the Los Angeles part. CNN's Anderson Cooper will be in Haiti.
MTV says there will be musical performances and celebrity appearances. No other talent was announced.
The show will benefit Jean's Yele Haiti Foundation, as well as UNICEF, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, and the Red Cross.
• Doctors Without Borders announced Wednesday that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were contributing $1 million to the organization's emergency medical operations responding to the earthquake.
• Ben Stiller tweeted late Tuesday that "people in Haiti need our help and attention right now." Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Adam Lambert and Ryan Leslie also tried to spread the word to the masses via Twitter.
• Colombian singer Shakira, on her Web site, called for donations to Yele and to UNICEF.
• Coldplay singer Chris Martin urged people to donate to a Haiti appeal set up by the charity Oxfam.
"I visited Haiti with Oxfam a few years ago. It's a country of extreme poverty and brutal living conditions," Martin said. "Most people in Port-au-Prince live in tin shacks. The earthquake that has struck Haiti will have turned the city into an unimaginable hell."
• Oprah Winfrey began her television talk show Wednesday by asking viewers to donate to the Red Cross. "This is a time where we, as a global nation, should come together and support those who are in need," Winfrey said.