From Rihanna to Chris Brown: Hollywood gives back this Christmas

Christmas isn’t always about getting gifts or even giving gifts to those you love. These celebrities decided to use the holiday to make a better Christmas for those in need. Read on to find out the different ways Tinsel Town embraced the true spirit of the season.
Susan spends Christmas with refugees

Susan Sarandon, who had spent part of her summer this year in Nepal to help earthquake victims, is spending her Christmas with Syrian immigrants. The actress, who landed on the Greek island of Lesbos over the weekend, said, “I asked a refugee mother with three small, freezing children, fresh off a dangerous boat crossing, how she could leave without a man, a destination or a guarantee and she replied, ‘Imagine you live on the third floor of a building and that building is on fire.If you stay you know you will die. If you jump, there is a chance you will live. What do you do? You jump.”
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Susan Sarandon spending Christmas with Syrian refugees
RiRi auctions her Christmas tree

Rihanna put up her Christmas tree from last year for auction during her Diamond Ball charity event in Los Angeles on December 10. Aside from the proceeds of the entire evening, the tree, which was made of black ice crystal mesh fabric and was decorated with over 20,000 faux black ice crystals, sold for $6,000 (over Rs 3 lakh).
Chris donates album proceeds

Chris Brown pledged that for every copy of his latest album Royalty sold, he would donate $1 (over Rs 60) to a non-profit children’s organisation. “The holidays are all about giving back (...) So please do your part. Give back!” he wrote on Instagram, and then put his money where his mouth was a few weeks later when he surprised a domestic abuse victim and single mother with a new car, along with gifts for her three children.
George feeds the homeless

As a follow-up to his $1,000 (over Rs 66,000) donation in November to an eatery in Edinburgh, Scotland that used its proceeds to feed the homeless and gave them employment, George Clooney launched a campaign that urged people to donate £5 (over Rs 400) to the charity to help feed the homeless on Christmas. “I’m giving £5 to pay it forward. I hope you do too,” he said in a video that launched the campaign.
Benedict’s letter to Santa Claus

Dear Father Christmas, (...) this is what I’d like to ask you to help with. A little more time for children to be children. Distract them from the realities of a world gone mad, so that they can laugh with their breath rather than sob with their tears. Especially those hiding in buildings as bombs rain down or being handed shaking with fear or cold into a boat to escape environmental disaster or war (...)
Lots of love
Benedict
P.S. Please could I have that lightsaber now?
While it certainly wasn’t his first time speaking about the Syrian immigrant crisis, Benedict Cumberbatch wrote an open letter that ran over two pages to Santa Claus to raise awareness about the issue.
Season’s greetings from Keating

Ronan Keating from the Irish boy band Boyzone designed his own Christmas card to raise money to further cancer research. “Christmas is about being with those we love and spreading a bit of festive cheer. (This card) a great way to make a donation and get a card which you can share with all of your friends and family,” the singer explained.
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