Michael Jordan Donates to Hurricane Florence Recovery Agencies

Basketball legend and hall of famer Michael Jordan has donated US$2 million to relief and recovery agencies to aid recuperation following Hurricane Florence.

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“It’s truly devastating for me to see the damage that Hurricane Florence is doing to my beloved home state of North Carolina and to the surrounding areas,” Jordan said last week in a statement.

The ex-National Basketball Association (NBA) player has pledged US$1 million each to the American Red Cross and Foundation For The Carolinas’ Hurricane Florence Response Fund.

The hurricane claimed the lives of 33 people, according to the Weather Channel. More than 300,000 people are also still without electricity.

The former Chicago Bulls player grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, where the Category 1 hurricane caused widespread flooding.

“You gotta take care of home,” the former athlete told the Charlotte Observer Tuesday. “Wilmington truly is my home,” he told the Observer. “Kept thinking about all those places I grew up going to. And the deaths — it was so sad about the babies (one of whom died in Wilmington). You don’t want to see any of that anywhere, but when it’s home, that’s tough to swallow.”

The sports icon was active for 15 seasons and won six championships.

Jordan is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets.

Members of the Hornets organization will also help to pack disaster food boxes Friday. About 5,000 boxes, with individual meals, will be shipped to Wilmington, Fayetteville and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for victims of the disaster.

Fanatics, the NBA merchandising partner, has designed a T-shirt and will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the Foundation For The Carolinas’ Hurricane Florence Response Fund.

“We reached out to try to find as many partners who are willing to sacrifice and give to this cause,” Jordan said. “The Red Cross will deal with the immediate food and shelter and the Foundation For The Carolinas will deal more with the long-term assistance. This is not a short-term thing. This is going to be a process, but it is going to take time.”