Carrie Underwood pledges concert proceeds to New Jersey recovery effort

Carrie Underwood is donating all proceeds from her recent concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey to the local community to help officials rebuild and recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.

The former American Idol champ admits she felt unsure about pressing ahead with a planned performance at the Boardwalk Hall on Friday (09Nov12) after the superstorm reduced much of the beach resort to rubble and destroyed its famous historic boardwalk.

Explaining her decision to honour the gig, in support of her now-ironically titled album Blown Away, she told the audience, "You know, after something like this, you wonder whether the show should go on. We thought, this building was still here, so it must be here for a reason."

Underwood's concert was the first big-name event to be staged in Atlantic City following last month's (Oct12) natural disaster and she decided to give back to the area by handing over all profits from the show to the ongoing relief efforts.

She said, "I wouldn't feel right making any money off of tonight's show so anything I make is going right back into the community here."

Underwood is the latest star to show her generosity to the victims of superstorm Sandy - Justin Bieber has also pledged to donate a portion of ticket sales to the American Red Cross, while Lady Gaga donated $1 million to the same charity last week (ends11Nov12).