Janet Jackson Meets Harvey Evacuees While Beyoncé, Demi Lovato and More Roll Up Their Sleeves in Houston

Karen Mizoguchi
Updated

Celebrities touched down in Texas to volunteer their time to help those displaced by Hurricane Harvey.

On Friday, Janet Jackson was accompanied by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner when she made a surprise visit to George R. Brown Convention Center, where approximately 1,600 evacuees are currently staying.

The night before, the 51-year-old singer kicked off her highly anticipated tour, just eight months after welcoming her first child, Eissa.

As we visit shelters here in Houston, our thoughts are with those affected by the e.quake in Mexico, H.Irma & storms in S. Asia & Africa.

A post shared by Janet Jackson (@janetjackson) on Sep 8, 2017 at 5:33pm PDT

Houston is the second stop on Jackson’s 56-city State of the World Tour, set for Saturday night at Toyota Center.

Also on Friday, Demi Lovato made a stop at the Houston Food Bank, where Kevin Hart and NBA star Chris Paul were also.

The singer, 25, donated 50,000 bottles of water to the food bank and set up a fundraising initiative with the food bank after donating $50,000, according to TMZ.

Hart and Paul teamed up to help unload trucks and package food to be distributed around the areas affected by Harvey. “I’m making sure that the money that was raised is being put to use. Thank you to everyone that is & has volunteered. You guys are real heroes,” the comedian shared on Instagram.

Wow !! How great was this day ? this is our third stop first we went to St. John's and along with Pastor Rudy . Beyonce Sponsored a luncheon for 400 folks some of the people affected by harvey and had a short program motivation to try tol encourage them and love on them. Second stop we went to the George R Brown convention center , where we talk to some of the residents about the needs and toured the facility Third stop we traveled to accompany one of lHouston's Best real life Heroes Trae That Truth to serve food to the residents of this complex ! This man delivers supplies that were donated by generous people like you . It was fun unloading the truck and organizing the sizes . Please keep the donations coming! .????

A post shared by Tina Knowles (@mstinalawson) on Sep 8, 2017 at 9:50pm PDT

In Houston making sure that the money that was raised is being used properly... #LiveLoveLaugh

A post shared by Kevin Hart (@kevinhart4real) on Sep 8, 2017 at 1:26pm PDT

Great day of service in Houston today. Thank you to all the volunteers helping out the community!! #HoustonStrong ????????

A post shared by Chris Paul (@cp3) on Sep 8, 2017 at 4:02pm PDT

Houston native Beyoncé visited St. John’s Church on Friday, speaking passionately to the gathered survivors. Amid the storm, the mother of three pledged to help relief efforts in her hometown through her charity initiative, BeyGOOD.

In addition, Beyoncé served food to those in need through her partnership with Bread of Life Harvey Relief Fund. Joining her at the volunteer event were mother Tina Knowles Lawson and 5-year-old Blue Ivy Carter.

Blue: "Well what do we have here?" #ThankfullyTheFoodWasCatered #YoncéDidNotCookIt

A post shared by Beyoncé, Solange and others (@formation.tour.2016) on Sep 8, 2017 at 5:38pm PDT

A fan sang to Beyoncé as she served food to the people of Houston. SIDENOTE: This video has me SCREAMING... Between Blue and Julius I. Can't. Breathe. ???? #lmao Beyoncé and the Bey Good team are in Houston as they work on helping victims of Hurricane Harvey Link in Bio to donate to Bread of Life or GHCS #BeyGood #BreadOfLife #GHCS #Houston #Texas #HurricaneHarvey #HurricaneHarveyRelief

A post shared by Beyoncé, Solange and others (@formation.tour.2016) on Sep 8, 2017 at 5:29pm PDT

Thousands of Texas residents sought shelter across states after Harvey made landfall last week. Floodwaters overtook entire neighborhoods, damaging at least 49,000 homes in Texas, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.