ESPN – Aaron Rodgers wore a Santa Monica Fire Department hat after the Green Bay Packers’ Nov. 11 win over the Miami Dolphins to show support for those impacted by the California fires.
Ten days later, the Packers quarterback announced he’s donating $1 million to help those in his home state.
“In Northern California, where I was born and raised, the city of Paradise burned to the ground, and many of the residents who got out are now displaced to my hometown of Chico and across the north state,” Rodgers said in a video posted on his Twitter account. “I personally reached out to my friends and the mayor of Chico to find out how to be of the most help. And raising money for both immediate needs and the long-term recovery is what is needed most right now.”
Please take a minute to watch this and if you can, take a few seconds to retweet this using the #retweet4good
All the money goes to a great organization for the immediate needs and the recovery efforts for the #CampFireParadise
Thank you 🙏🏻 #ButteStrong #payitforward pic.twitter.com/iQjMbUIHcI— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) November 21, 2018
Rodgers grew up in Chico, California, and attended Butte College and the University of California.
“I’ve been on the phone with a lot of folks close to me in Northern California and in Southern California,” Rodgers said on Nov. 11. “I had the fortune to meet some great firefighters from Santa Monica in the offseason. They sent me this hat, and I was thinking in my house today, this was the only paraphernalia I had that could represent my support for those folks who are fighting the fires. My heart goes out to the great people of Paradise, California.
“Growing up in Chico, I spent a great deal of time up there, I played a lot of football and basketball and sports up in Paradise, basically lived in Magalia at one point, which is an even tinier town off of Paradise. The devastation there, is tough. Hearing the stories of people running down the highways to avoid the fire. Knowing that people burned alive in their cars. It’s heartbreaking, for sure, and then you have a fire in my adopted home of Southern California, so it’s been a tough week for sure, and myself and the guys from Northern California, our thoughts and our prayers are with those folks. Not only the great firefighters fighting the fire, but all the people displaced. In my home area, Butte County, and then obviously down south in the L.A. area.”
