It's good to check in various quality dictionaries. Cambridge Dictionary (here re-organised, otherwise slightly amended, and used very selectively) shows the usage (along with others):
appeal [verb] [no direct object] ...
{C1} to make a serious or formal request, especially to the public, for money, information, or help:
...
[+ to infinitive]: appeal to someone to do something
- Church leaders have appealed to the government to halt the war. ...
- Both sets of parents appealed to the kidnappers to release their son and daughter.
Compare
- John appealed to Mary to be brave.
The dictionary focuses on 'dynamic verbs' ('to do something'), but stative verbs are quite acceptable:
- Aberdeenshire education chief asks parents to be patient as ...
[Pat Scott; Grampian Online; March 2021]
The 'arouse interest in a person' sense is not listed as licensing the to-infinitive after the transitivising 'to' + complement:
appeal [verb] [no direct object] ...
to interest or attract someone: ...
appeal to someone
- The new phone is designed to appeal to consumers who find normal phone tariffs confusing.
(Cambridge Dictionary; lower in article)