The One America Appeal is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded on 7 September 2017, by all five then living former U.S. Presidents:

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, George H. W. Bush,

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

, George W. Bush, and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

. This joint appeal originally aimed to encourage support for recovery efforts for

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

, but was then extended to include areas most affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The appeal was launched when the five former Presidents aired a joint

PSA PSA, PsA, Psa, or psa may refer to: Biology and medicine * Posterior spinal artery * Primary systemic amyloidosis, a disease caused by the accumulation of abnormal proteins * Prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme used as a blood tracer for pros ...

on the NFL's regular season opening broadcast. All funds collected through this fund will go into a special account established through the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation and then all proceeds will be distributed to assist hurricane victims. According to an update issued on 21 October 2017, the effort has raised $31 million in funds from more than 80,000 donors. The appeal concluded fundraising on 31 December 2017 and raised $41.3 million in total from around 110,500 donors.

Benefit concert

A benefit concert, "Deep from the Heart: The One America Appeal", was held on 21 October 2017 at the Reed Arena at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

in College Station and headlined by all five living former U.S. Presidents (

, George W. Bush,

, George H. W. Bush, and

). Ticket sales and other proceeds went to the special hurricane recovery effort. The concert was hosted by Lee Greenwood, with Martin Guigui as Music Director, and featured the country music band

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

Sam Moore Samuel David Moore (born October 12, 1935) is an American vocalist who was a member of the soul and R&B group, Sam & Dave, from 1961 to 1981. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (for " Soul Man"), and the V ...

Yolanda Adams Yolanda Yvette Adams (born August 27, 1961) is an American gospel singer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold over 10 million albums ...

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957)Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and releas ...

and Robert Earl Keen.

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

made a surprise appearance, performing " Million Reasons", " You and I" and " The Edge of Glory" at the concert. The Texas A&M University Singing Cadets also made an appearance to sing "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the ...

", "God Bless the USA" (alongside Greenwood), and " Lean on Me" at the end of the concert. A pre-taped video message from sitting US President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

was shown during the concert, in which he described the effort as "tremendous".

Donations

Donations to the fund will be distributed to these organisations: * Houston Harvey Relief Fund * Rebuild Texas Fund * Florida Disaster Fund * Juntos y unidos por Puerto Rico * The Fund for the Virgin Islands

Founders

Five living former U.S. Presidents were co-founders of the One America Appeal in 2017. (George H.W. Bush died on 30 November 2018.) File:JimmyCarterPortrait2.jpg, Jimmy Carter
39th President
served 1977– 1981 File: George H. W. Bush, President of the United States, 1989 official portrait cropped(b).jpg, George H. W. Bush (†)
41st President
served

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

– 1993 File:Bill Clinton.jpg, Bill Clinton
42nd President
served 1993–

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

File:George-W-Bush.jpeg, George W. Bush
43rd President
served

–

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

File:Official portrait of Barack Obama.jpg, Barack Obama
44th President
served

– 2017

References

External links

*
YouTube channel
{{Barack Obama Jimmy Carter George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Bush Barack Obama Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Irma Charities based in Texas Non-profit organizations based in Texas Organizations established in 2017 2017 establishments in Texas Benefit concerts in the United States