Colts running back D'Vonte Price was four when he saw Hurricane Charley flip over his dad's truck and tear trees from the ground and roofs off houses in Punta Gorda, Fla. So when he saw Hurricane Ian's projected path – with his hometown in it – he knew he had to do something, even if he was hundreds of miles inland in Indiana.
So Price set up a GoFundMe on Thursday to benefit disaster relief in Punta Gorda. You can donate to Price's GoFundMe here.
"Once I saw Hurricane Charley could fit in the eye of this hurricane, I was like, oh my God," Price, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Colts in May and is on the team's practice squad, said. "I already knew it was going to have its way with my city. But as soon as I could do anything, whatever I could do for my community — and not even just the community itself but Lee County, Sarasota County I know got hit too. Anybody around that area, I want to do whatever I can to help them out."
Price's family is safe in Punta Gorda but is without power, and probably will be without power for months after Hurricane Ian pummeled a wide swath of Florida. The destruction caused by Ian is immense – "They say it's like a war zone over there," Price said. And cleanup and rebuilding efforts will go on for months, to the point that Price is planning on helping with them after the 2022 season is over.
But for now, Price hopes to use his platform to raise funds to help his community heal and rebuild after such a devastating storm. Getting ESPN's Adam Schefter to tweet a link to the GoFundMe to his 9.8 million followers on Twitter should help, too.
"It really hurt me seeing it on TV while I'm out here in Indiana just chilling and stuff, and I really couldn't do nothing about it, nothing for them," Price said. "I just thought about, even though you're not there, you can still be a voice helping out, doing whatever you can to raise money, whatever it takes."
