The event titled "Hope Help & Relief Haiti" was put together by fashion icon Donna Karan and her Urban Zen Foundation, music executive Andre Harrell, hotelier Andre Balazs and the Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN).

The evening was designed as a "Night of Humanity" including a live performance by Blige, an address by Jean and an auction conducted by Goldberg.

The immediate goal of the fundraiser was to provide up to 50,000 tents for homeless families in Haiti.

But Karan said the idea was not to limit the effort to just one night but to use it as a launch for a series of events, with the long term goal of helping re-build a permanent, sustainable community in Haiti.

Funds raised from the event are to donated to several organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean´s Yele Haiti. Yele Haiti was founded in 2005 to raise awareness about Haitian issues and to help the poor country through various programs.

Since the January earthquake in Haiti, Jean has been a leading fundraiser for his devastated homeland. But he also faced accusations in January that he had personally profited from his foundation.

The Grammy Award-winner dismissed such claims and said the organization´s finances had been given a clean bill of health.