DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – A well known Dallas Mavericks star is raising money for his native Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria’s path through the U.S. Territory.
J.J. Barea was born and raised in Puerto Rico and has played for its national basketball team. His parents and other close family members rode out the storm and are without power, like the rest of the island.
“My parents, uncles, grandparents are all ok,” Barea said. “I haven’t spoken to my mom and Dad because where they are they don’t have contact at all.”
Barea started an online fundraising campaign Wednesday to help with recovery efforts.
“There’s a lot of people that need help,” said Barea. “We don’t know all the needs right now but we should in the next couple of days. So I created this fundraiser just to be ready.”
Barea hopes to raise $100,000. If his efforts are anything like that of his name sake in Houston, he’ll well surpass his goal. Houston Texans star J.J. Watt recently raised millions of dollars for Hurricane Harvey relief through a similar online fundraising campaign.
To visit Barea’s donate page, click here.
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