The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

PHOENIX Suns centre Deandre Ayton said he was overwhelmed at the level of support the people of Phoenix offered to the Bahamas and the victims of Hurricane Dorian.

Ayton hosted a supplies donation drive at Fry’s grocery store in the Phoenix area and fans lined up throughout the day to deliver supplies.

“This is more than I expected, to be honest. I didn’t expect all of this. I expected some fans, but this is tremendous,” he told the Fox 10 Phoenix affiliate. “I just want to keep things [like this] going for the rest of my career, the rest of my life. As long as it takes my country to get back on its feet.”

Ayton donated $100,000 to various organisations in the relief effort and also established a GoFundMe account for crowd-sourced fundraising.

“This is the worst one I’ve ever seen. Growing up, I had been in Hurricane Katrina. I know what a hurricane is like, I know the damage it can do, to try to bounce back from all that it’s pretty rough,” he said.

“We had been tracking the hurricane ever since it was close to the Caribbean so we already knew what it was capable of and where it was headed. Looking through the phone, seeing pictures of the destruction, it just brings flashbacks of some of the things we went through when I was younger.”

Ayton continues his philanthropic efforts which began last summer following the completion of his NBA rookie season. He hosted a meet-and-greet at Fusion Superplex and also made a $10,000 donation to the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development to assist with their efforts in July.

His Puma “Clyde” shoes also feature the Bahamian flag.