Terrence Romeo and Jeff Cariaso are spearheading their own donation drives

Photo from Inquirer Sports

San Miguel guard Terrence Romeo and Alaska Aces head coach Jeff Cariaso are leading their own donation programs for frontliners and those heavily affected by the pandemic around the Philippines. 

Romeo donated 2,000 pairs of surgical gloves, 12,000 surgical face masks, 5,000 rolls of tissue paper, and 1,000 bottles of alcohol to Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, Valenzuela Citicare Medical, and St. Mattheus Medical Hospital in Rizal. Reports say that Romeo plans to donate to three more hospitals in the next few days. 

Meanwhile, Cariaso together with Dickie Bachmann and the Alaska Aces started their own PBA workers fund for non-regular PBA workers. Over the past couple of days, several players from teams like Blackwater Elite and Talk and Text have also participated in the drive to help workers who depend on daily wages. 

Columbia Dyip rookie CJ Perez, San Miguel’s Chris Ross, and Meralco Bolts’ Cliff Hodge are among those who joined Cariaso to extend their help to PBA workers. 

On the other side of the world, several athletes and sports organizations are also helping their hometowns deal with the impact of COVID-19: The Lakers, together with their Staples Center co-tenants the LA Clippers and LA Kings, have donated $5 million to their arena staff as well as 7,000 pounds of food to homeless shelters. 

In Dallas, every Maverick player committed to donate hundreds of meals purchased from local restaurants for the frontliners at the Dallas emergency ops center. Players like Joel Embid, LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kyle Kuzma are also helping those affected by the pandemic. 

As of writing, there have been 552 people infected by COVID-19 in the Philippines, including 35 deaths.