Celebs using platforms to make a difference during pandemic

As scientists around the world rush to find a vaccine to help fight off COVID-19, famous personalities are trying to do what they can too to lend a helping hand. In the case of YouTube singing sensation Peter Hollens, the effort has come in the form of a goofy hand washing parody video that has gone viral. 

“I so desperately needed to do something,” Hollens said during an appearance on The Pod’s Honest Truth with David Brody.

“I've been given this platform, and I know how to create, and I knew the one thing that we all needed at the time and still currently is some form of levity,” he told the podcast. “It’s so necessary to laugh.”

Actor and comedian Larry David, the star of the hit show "Curb Your Enthusiasm," recorded a public service announcement using comedy as the vehicle to get younger people to stay home during the crisis. It has millions of views on YouTube. “Nothing good ever happens going out of the house," he jokingly tells younger Americans. "So stay home and, you know, don't see anyone except maybe if there's a plumbing emergency, let the plumber in and then, you know, wipe everything down after he leaves ... but that's it. OK.?”

"Laughter is the best medicine,” goes the famous saying — and that has actually been proven medically. Scientists have clear evidence that the more you laugh the more your stress hormones decrease, and at the same time the immune cells and antibodies that fight off infection increase.

Scientific evidence is also accumulating that prayer relieves stress. Some actors are turning in that direction. 

Actor Kirk Cameron, known for his role on the hit television show “Growing Pains” back in the 1980s, has been influential within the evangelical community for decades. This past week, he went to Instagram and Facebook, challenging Americans with a month-long prayer initiative called “30 Days Faith Strong.”

“I thought let's pray together for 30 days, and see what happens,” Cameron told Just the News in an interview on The Pod’s Honest Truth. “Oftentimes, great things, great moves of God can happen because of concentrated prayer. Revival can break out.” 

Cameron is among the countless celebrities trying in some way to use their platforms for good in these trying times. “My prayer for the nation is let's not waste the coronavirus,” Cameron said. “Let's not waste the fact that we're in this, and with God's help we can come out better than we were before we went into it. … Let it make us more compassionate. Let it make us wiser. Let it make us seek God and turn from wrong ways to right ways.”

Prayer isn’t the only tool celebrities are using to make a difference. With K-12 schools shut down across the country, actresses Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams have launched “Save with Stories,” a reading campaign that has celebrities read children’s books to kids over the internet. The money raised through the project goes to charities that help children in need of food.

Innumerable celebrities are also opening up their checkbooks. Kanye West made a significant donation to We Women Empowered, an organization which provides meals to the elderly. Musician Ciara and husband NFL quarterback Russell Wilson are donating one million meals to a local food bank in the Seattle area. J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans and his wife, soccer star Kealia Ohai Watt, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a local food bank in their area.

Celebrities know their voices can carry a lot of weight, especially with the younger generation of Americans who are more inclined to take advice and heed warnings from a celebrity than a scientist. And, as these celebs have long understood, the most effective medium for reaching that demographic is social media.

Singer Lady Gaga, who has nearly 40 million Instagram followers, had a blunt message for her young fans. “I talked to some doctors and scientists,” she said on the photo- and video-sharing social media network. “It's not the easiest for everyone right now but the kindest/healthiest thing we can do is self-quarantine and not hang out with people over 65 and in large groups.” The singer has done exactly that by choosing to stay away from her parents and grandparents during this time.

Actress Hilary Duff was more blunt with millenials who are not observing the federal government’s suggested stay-at-home guidelines. "To all you young millennial a**holes that keep going out partying: go home…stop killing old people please." 

The iconic singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who has particular sway with teenage girls, made her own impassioned plea. “This is the time to cancel plans, actually truly isolate as much as you can,” Swift told her 129 million Instagram followers. “Don't assume that because you don't feel sick that you aren't possibly passing something on to someone elderly or vulnerable to this … it's a really scary time … but we need to make social sacrifices right now."