As hurricanes ravaged Texas, the Caribbean, and Florida over the last few weeks, another instance of Mother Nature’s wrath hit the southern parts of Mexico, along with Guatemala. With people recovering from the 8.1 earthquake that rocked the region last week, some of Liga MX’s brightest athletes lent their aid to those who were in need of help.
Three Tigres UANL players–Javier Aquino, André-Pierre Gignac and Timothée Kolodziejczak–joined up with relief efforts at Monterrey’s Parque España to collect food and supplies for the victims of the earthquake. The footballers collected canned food, toilet paper, bottled water, as well as clothes from locals to be distributed to those in need in the south.
“This was something that we started on social networks and, indeed, it became something very big and we are grateful to everyone. We have to try to make the contribution since we have the means, and we made our contribution to set the example,” said Aquino, who had family in Oaxaca that were affected by the seismic event, which is still hitting the region via aftershocks.
The Tigres striker delivered a powerful view on the situation saying that “a Mexican never leaves another Mexican alone when we can help.” This sense of community is important in such trying times, and it was echoed by relief efforts in Texas, such as by Houston Texas star J.J. Watt, who helped raised over $30 million for Hurricane Harvey recovery.
Banding together against natural disasters becomes a much more attractive and active process when those in the public eye step up to set the example, as Aquino and co. did for the earthquake. Their presence helped increase the participation in the event, which at point featured a long line of people wanting to help donate for those who were in the path of the disaster that claimed 95 lives as of press time.