Brooklyn Nets all-star Kyrie Irving announced his intention to donate 250,000 meals and $323,000 to help “marginalized communities get the food resources they require” as they work to combat the spread of COVID-19.
“Seeing the effects of COVID-19 reach our loved ones, our schools, our jobs, and access to food has really impacted me,” Irving said in an Instagram post. “Thank you to everyone on the front line working to keep all of us safe, healthy, and fed. Together we can change the world one small gesture at a time.”
Along with the food-relief organizations Feeding America, City Harvest NYC, and Lineage Logistics, Irving will help launch the “Share A Meal” campaign — which will distribute the quarter-million meals to needy people in the New York area, Irving said.
The 28-year-old point guard simultaneously announced the $323,000 donation to Feeding America to further help food-insecure people — along with a plea for others to donate as well.
“I am asking my fans, friends, family and partners to join me in helping our communities by donating,” he said. “And [Lineage Logistics] will match $200k of what we raise together.”
At the time of Irving’s announcement, there had been 12,339 confirmed diagnoses in New York City.
The novel coronavirus particularly hit home for the Nets player, after four team members tested positive for the infection on March 17 — including former league MVP Kevin Durant.
The NBA canceled its season entirely with just two months left out of fears of the virus on March 11, which came after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first confirmed case among players league-wide.
Following that decision, newly-minted Nets owner Joe Tsai — who boasts a net worth of nearly $10 billion — announced that the organization would pay hourly employees of the 19,000-seat Barclays Center during the shutdown.
