"Hand In Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief" was televised in an hour-long live broadcast without commercial interruptions over more than a dozen networks on Tuesday, September 12, 2017. There was no competition among anchors of the networks. For instance, CBS News' anchor Norah O'Donnell joined NBC's "Today" anchor Matt Lauer and ABC's "Good Morning America" anchor Michael Strahan.

The telethon was also simultaneously streamed live on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, AOL, Yahoo and the Huffington Post. The program was televised from four different locations, including New York, Los Angeles, Nashville and San Antonio.

A-list stars from every area of entertainment helped out with their performances, speeches and answering the telephones to accept donations from all over America, Canada and other parts of the world.

The telethon

Some of the biggest names in show business showed up to do their part to help during the benefit. They all had only one agenda in mind, and that was to focus on the communities and families impacted by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma that caused between $150 billion and $290 billion in damages in Texas and Florida. Even though the program was only one hour long, it was packed with images from both storms and many appeals for people to donate. No time was wasted at all.

Celebrities

More than a hundred performers and Celebrities made appearances throughout the show.

Singer Stevie Wonder opened the program with the song "Lean On Me." Usher and Blake Shelton sang "Stand By Me." Brief speeches were made by Oprah Winfrey, Cher, Beyonce, Julia Roberts, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, George Clooney, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and many others. After their speeches, many of them did double duty by joining other celebrities to answer the telephones.

Even Jay Leno came out of retirement to accept donations over the phone along with Bruce Willis, Gayle King and a room full of others in all locations.

The live broadcast ended at 9 p.m., but the telethon continued all night so people could donate that way, through texts and online. Donations will be accepted for several more days through those three different ways.

Donations can be made by calling 1-800-258-6000, or by texting "Give" to 80077 or online at HandinHand2017.com.

When the program went off the air, more than $14.5 million had been raised. The amount will surely go much higher before the telethon officially ends.
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