Carmelo Anthony Starts Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Fundraiser With $50,000 Donation

The New York Knicks forward wrote an essay about the aid Puerto Rico needs for The Players' Tribune.

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony has opened a hurricane relief fundraiser for Puerto Rico, he announced Friday in an essay with The Players' Tribune. 

Anthony spearheaded the YouCaring campaign with a $50,000 donation of his own, and the page has since reached over $110,000 in donations. 

"I’m half Puerto Rican, and I’m proud of it," he said in the essay. "Puerto Ricans are my people. But this is about more than that. Puerto Ricans are our fellow Americans. Puerto Ricans are our fellow man. They need our help."

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday. The island is without power, governor Ricardo Rossello told CNN, and there has been extensive flooding. 

Anthony talked about how he hadn't yet heard from friends on the island, and ended his essay asking for help. 

I’ve set up a @YouCaring page to aid the relief efforts in Puerto Rico. We need your help in this fight.

Donate: https://t.co/SKjHbMlijs pic.twitter.com/oKgrCNoqGR

— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) September 22, 2017

Beltran isn't the first athlete to start a fundraising campaign for the country, and support for the nation has been radiating across social media and fundraising pages. 

Carlos Beltran and Wife Jessica Start Puerto Rico Fundraiser With $1M Donation

Houston Astros Carlos Beltran announced Friday that he and his wife, Jessica, were starting a fundraiser. The family spearheaded the CrowdRise campaign with a $1 million donation.   

Former Yankees great Jorge Posada and his wife, Laura, started one Thursday on YouCaring, which has raised over $110,000. Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and his wife, Wanda, started a campaign that has raised over $50,000 on GoFundMe.