Hollywood couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem have promised to donate 31,250 pounds-a-year for five years to rebuild schools in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. The Spanish stars joined writer-director Paul Haggis at his Los Angeles home on Sunday (24 Jan) when he hosted a celebrity brunch for his charitable organisation Artists for Peace and Justice to raise funds for Haiti.

The brunch raised 2.8 million pounds for the Caribbean nation’s relief effort - including Cruz and Bardem’s personal promises to support the country as it works to rebuild its school system. Haggis, who has been doing charity work in Haiti for years, founded Artists for Peace and Justice with a group of friends last year (2009) to improve schools and hospitals and help provide locals with access to clean drinking water.

The Nine actress’ five-year pledge comes within two weeks after she paid tribute to Haggis at the Golden Globe Awards, where she praised him for snubbing the red carpet to fly to Haiti and help relief workers. “We are very lucky to be here, celebrating cinema… but it’s impossible to think about anything else than the terrible disaster that is going on in Haiti,” a source quoted her as saying. “Our dear friend Paul Haggis… is on his way there now… I encourage people to look at the website, Artists for Peace & Justice, and to do whatever they can because everything counts, everything will make a difference to somebody else’s life,” she added.