Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Donate $500,000 to Brad's Home State

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated $500,000 to help victims of the recent tornado in Joplin, Missouri.

Pitt, 47, grew up in Springfield, Missouri but his grand parents hailed from Joplin, and he vacationed with them many time during his childhood. Recent tornadoes in Joplin area have destroyed many lives, homes and businesses.

In a press statement he said, "With the devastating loss of thirty percent of the city, the Joplin community faces great challenges ahead. Having spent much of my childhood there, I know these people to be hardworking, humble and especially resilient."

The couple has given the donation through a locally based foundation called Foundation of the Ozarks.

"The locally based Community Foundation of the Ozarks will be working shoulder to shoulder with these Joplin residents for the long haul as they rebuild their lives. We, too, hope to further help with these rebuilding efforts," Pitt added.

The couple is known for their charity work, not only in the US but around the world as well. In September 2006, Pitt and Jolie established a charitable organization, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, to aid humanitarian causes around the world.

Pitt founded the Make It Right Foundation in 2006, rallying housing professionals in New Orleans to finance and construct 150 sustainable, affordable new houses in New Orleans's Ninth Ward following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.