Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff WriterOct 3, 2024, 06:11 PM ET
- Jenna Laine covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for ESPN. She started covering the Bucs for ESPN in 2016, but she has covered the team since 2009. Follow Jenna on Twitter: @JennaLaineESPN.
ATLANTA, Ga. — Before Thursday night’s NFC South matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta FalconsBucs quarterback Baker Mayfieldhis wife Emily, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins and Cousins’ wife Julie, have teamed up to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Both families have pledged $50,000 toward a $100,000 donation to Team Rubicon, a veteran-led nonprofit specializing in disaster response.
Team Rubicon has dispatched 240 volunteers across areas hit hardest in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Team Rubicon has been providing road clearance, reconstruction and sawyer work to repair critical infrastructure. Rubicon teams are currently deployed across 35 communities for Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
— Kirk Cousins (@KirkCousins8) October 3, 2024
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with large-scale flooding throughout the Florida Gulf Coast.
The large-scale property damage and flooding spread throughout Georgia and into the Carolinas with the hurricane’s largest devastation happening in western North Carolina. The death toll across all states has risen to 204 as of Thursday afternoon with rescue and recovery efforts ongoing.
The Buccaneers also pledged $1 million through the Glazer Family Foundation to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts, and the Falcons pledged $2 million through the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
Other donations across the NFL include $3 million from the Carolina Panthers through the David and Nicole Tepper Foundation and $1 million each from the Houston Texans and the NFL Foundation.