Inspiration From Ireland and England

It was an Irish singer named Bob Geldof who first got an idea for musicians to help the famine in Africa in 1984.  He co-wrote a song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and it was recorded very successfully by Irish and British singers.  Then, an American singer and actor named Harry Belafonte, who was also a strong social activist, got an idea to do the same in the USA.  Some musicians were contacted and there was enthusiastic support....  For more information, people can read the blog entries below.

Fundraising and Awareness Projects

The "We Are The World" song was sung by a group of musicians who formed an organization called United Support of Artists/USA in 1985.  By their performance and some merchandise, they raised over $60 million for Africa.  And the following year, the same group organized a project called Hands Across America, which raised $34 million for hunger and homelessness in the United States.  It must've been very interesting!  People formed a human chain by holding hands all across the USA, from New York to California.  [There were necessarily some gaps but in other spots the lines were 5-10 people deep.]  I think these events were both phenomenal!  The musicians were generous and they inspired the public to get involved and to be generous also.  *** Of course, there was the "We Are The World 25" project [25th-anniversary in 2010] for the benefit of the Haiti earthquake but it was a spin-off of the original project.  It didn't seem to be quite as successful financially, to my knowledge, but it was nice they tried.