Talented to the core, Sandra Bullock is known as “America’s Sweetheart” — a title which is more than well-deserved due to her being friendly, direct, and unpretentious. [1]
Sandra Annette Bullock was born on July 26, 1964, in Arlington, Virginia, and she has worked really hard to be the household name she is today. Bullock has won several awards including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar for her amazing performances in over 50 movies.
The actress was born into a humble home, raised in Germany and Austria for 12-years before she moved to the United States.
After her education at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, she moved to New York. There, she worked as a bartender, coat checker, and cocktail waitress to support herself. She did all that while auditioning for roles.
Eventually, she got her big break in the 1994 thriller Speed, which grossed in over $350 million worldwide.
Sandra Bullock’s Charity Work
Bullock proved to be aware and respectful of the quote “If you’re more fortunate than others, it’s better to build a longer table than a taller fence.”
The cherry on top of the “philanthropy sundae” is that she keeps all her alms-giving low-key with very little publicity.
Bullock has made generous and quiet donations to various organizations around the world. Her generosity has helped many countries greatly in recovering from the traumatic effects of natural disasters.
Red Cross
In 2001, after the September 11 attacks, Bullock donated $1 million to the Red Cross.
She also made a second $1 million donation to the Red Cross in 2004 following the tsunami in Indonesia to aid humanitarian relief efforts. Bullock has proven to be very respectful of the work done by the Red Cross Society.
In 2005, she again made a donation of $1 million following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Haitian Earthquake
In the wake of the catastrophic damage caused by the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010, Bullock donated $1 million to the Doctors Without Borders Emergency Operations in Port-au-Prince to help the country rebuild.
Japanese Tsunami
Bullock made a sizeable donation of $1 million to the Red Cross Society after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that happened in Japan in 2011. The donation was made to assist the Red Cross to provide relief for so many distressed Japanese people.
Warren Easton Charter High School
The 2005 devastating Hurricane Katrina destroyed one of the New Orleans’ oldest public schools: Warren Easton Charter High School.
In 2010, Bullock helped the school open their on-campus clinic. She did not stop there.
In 2012, she donated $25,000 to rebuild the school.
She also continued to work with them so they’d attain a graduation rate of 100 percent — a feat they achieved in 2011.
Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear is a children’s icon that originated in British literature. Before December 2014, the Paddington’s Trail took place in London. This was an art project which featured 50 statues of the famous bear.
They were created by artists, celebrities, and designers and were placed in strategic places in London. Eventually, the statues were removed and an auction was held to sell them. The proceeds were donated to charity including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, NSPCC.
Bullock designed a golden bear statue inspired by her movie Gravity. The sale of that bear and others helped not only the NSPCC but other charities, including Action Medical Research. [4]
Art + Practice Foundation
Bullock launched a pair of custom-made Rupert Sanderson shoes at the premiere of Minionsin Los Angeles. Afterward, 10 pairs of the shoes all autographed by her were auctioned.
They were for the Art + Practice Foundation, which is an organization that supports the needs of its local fostered youth and provides free access to museum-curated contemporary arts to the community of Leimert Park, Los Angeles. [5]
Hurricane Harvey
Bullock, after the devastating cyclone in 2017, immediately donated $1 million to help people who had been affected by the category 4 hurricane.
In the wake of the political storm that followed the disastrous hurricane, Bullock said, “There are no politics in eight feet of water. There are human beings in eight feet of water.” This she said in a bid to unite all Americans in one goal. [6]
Svend Petersen
Longtime pool manager of the Beverly Hills Hotel went through some very hard times in 2017. He became homeless and would sometimes go for days without water.
A friend of his started a GoFundMe campaign to help him out. The initial goal of $5,900 was surpassed in just a few days.
Bullock made a generous donation of $5,000 to put him back on his feet. [7]
Carolina fires
In November 2018, after the heartbreaking California fires, Bullock donated $400,000 to the Red Cross to help out the people who were affected by the fires.
The Humane Society of Ventura County
Also in November 2018, Bullock donated $100,000 to the Humane Society of Ventura County, California. This was to help take care of the animals that were evacuated from the domestic California fires.
These were just some of the large donations she has made. There are several smaller ones that were not publicized.
Now, this is one lady that should be emulated. Her generosity is so pure and inspiring.
Her constant charitable acts have shown that the war against national disasters is not one that is won or lost, rather it is an ongoing fight that we must join in whenever we are needed.
Here’s to wishing her everlasting happiness.
Keep Reading: Woman Finds True Love with the Man Who Donated Her Half of His Liver & Saved Her Life
References:
- “Following Her Fears to Greater Heights“, NY Times. September 2013.
- “Sandra Bullock“, Wikipedia.
- “Paddington Bear Sites and Tours in London“, Freetoursbyfoot.
- “About“, Art + Practice.
- “Sandra Bullock Donates $1 Million to Help Hurricane Relief Effort”, People. August 2017.
- “Sandra Bullock donates $5,000 to struggling former Beverly Hills hotel pool manager“, Fox News. April 2017.
