In an effort to assist residents in the Carolinas impacted by Hurricane Florence, Charlotte Hornets Chairman and basketball legend Michael Jordan is reaching into his own pockets to help in the relief and recovery from the storm.
Jordan, who grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina and played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, has donated $2 million to organizations in the Tar Heel State less than a week after the global icon, the Hornets, and the NBA teamed up to provide necessary and immediate relief and support to those affected by the hurricane.
Jordan is contributing $1 million each to the American Red Cross and the Foundation For The Carolinas' Hurricane Florence Response Fund. The American Red Cross is providing food and shelter to those residents who have been displaced by the hurricane, while the response fund directs funds to nonprofits in both North and South Carolina, according to the Charlotte Hornets press release.
"It just hits home," Jordan told The Associated Press. "I know all of those places: Wilmington, Fayetteville, Myrtle Beach, New Bern, and Wallace, which is where my father is from. So quite naturally it hits home, and I felt like I had to act in a sense that this is my home."
This Friday, September 21, over 100 members of the Hornets organization will help pack disaster food boxes at Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.
Additionally, Fanatics, the Hornets and NBA merchandising partner, has designed a special t-shirt with the Hornets logo in the middle of the states of North Carolina and South Carolina with the words "Carolina Strong" on it. All of the net proceeds of the $24.99 shirt will be donated to the Foundation For The Carolinas' Hurricane Florence Response Fund.
It's always great to see big organizations step up in big-time ways, and it definitely speaks volumes for someone like Jordan to donate such a big amount during a time of need in the community.
