James Taylor To Donate Money To Fire-Ravaged Fort McMurray

James Taylor is using his music to help people evacuated from a huge wildfire in Canada.

The “Carolina in My Mind” singer has turned two Alberta concerts next month into benefits. Proceeds from tickets to his shows in Calgary on June 7 and Edmonton on June 8 will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross to help victims of what Taylor says is a major national catastrophe that’s just impossible to ignore.

“It’s really a part of human nature to respond to things like this by wanting to lend a hand if you can. You’d like to feel as though people would be there for you if you were in a similar situation,” Taylor told The Associated Press by phone on Monday.

Taylor says the idea came from conversations with his Canadian representative Sam Feldman as he arrived for a 15-concert tour of Canadian cities over the next month. He said the two shows would raise “at least a quarter of a million, maybe a $100,000 more than that.”

“Live Nation are donating their portion of the show … the two buildings that the shows are in are donating their part to it,” Taylor added. “It’s building some momentum and we hope it encourages other people to volunteer.”

Photo: Rachel La Corte/AP

Destroyed townhouses in the Abasand neighborhood of Fort McMurray, Alberta, are viewed after a massive wildfire.

More than 80,000 residents of Fort McMurray have been displaced by the fires, which began last week. Taylor has frequently participated in fundraising events.