If you weren’t already a big fan of Chris Pratt or Chris Evans, this might sway you over to Captain America and Star-Lord. Usually in Hollywood, most charity events for celebrities are created with a lot of planning and figuring out how the media will react. With Pratt and Evans, they came up with a great idea to raise money for their children’s charities in an instant after realizing that their favorite teams, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, would be battling it out in Super Bowl XLIX. Rather than call their agents/managers/pr reps to see if this was a good idea or not, they just Tweeted it out, and everyone turned out to be a winner…including Evans team the Patriots.
That Super Bowl bet between Chris Pratt and Chris Evans really paid off for two children’s charities, ABC News reported today.
The bet came about in January after “Captain America” star Chris Evans, a New England Patriots fan, tweeted out to Pratt, a Seattle Seahawks fan, that the two teams were going into battle. He then jokingly followed that up with, “For the next 2 weeks, you are not my friend, you are my enemy.”
Rather than turn this into a Twitter war, the two hatched a plan that whomever’s team that lost would agree to visit a charity of the winner’s choosing, dressed as their Marvel superhero. When the Seattle Seahawks lost, Pratt donned his Star-Lord to visit Christopher’s Haven, Evans charity of choice. Making sure to rub more salt into the Seahawks loss wounds, Evans showed up to follow Pratt around with a New England Patriots Tom Brady jersey.
The two stars also tweeted out links to their children’s charities which has already helped to raise nearly $30,000 in total donations. Seattle Children’s Hospital was able to raise $15,000 while Christopher’s Haven brought in $12,000 and still counting. Naturally both charities were ecstatic that Pratt and Evans made such a generous sports bet.
“We are grateful that real-life superheroes Chris Pratt and Chris Evans are turning their sports rivalry into an opportunity to support kids in their communities,” Lisa Brandenburg, president of Seattle Children’s Hospital, said. “We are delighted that patients and families at both Seattle Children’s and Christopher’s Haven will benefit from these generous donations.”
Joyce Duvall, executive director of Christopher’s Haven, said, “The generosity of Chris Evans and Chris Pratt is overwhelming. They turned a simple, friendly wager into something very significant for both Christopher’s Haven and Seattle Children’s Hospital. The fun and goodwill that they have generated will stay with the children a long time.”
With so many stories coming out of Hollywood where celebrities act like overgrown children, it’s great to report something very different for a change.