DETROIT - At the start of April Houston Astros star and former Old Dominion ace Justin Verlander promised to donate his paychecksto different organizations during the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, he announced he's helping to donate masks, face shields thermometers and food to Detroit first responders.
"Kate Upton and I have been following the #COVID19 spread in Michigan and are heartbroken for Detroit, a city so close to our hearts," Verlander said in an Instagram post. "With such deep ties to this amazing and resilient city we wanted to focus our efforts on supporting both the community and first responders. We’ve especially seen the impact on the Detroit Police Department and reached out to learn how we could help. Together we quickly identified their areas of need and are so grateful for several collaborations and extremely generous organizations that rushed to support."
Verlander is partnering with Bella+Canvas to donate 25,000 masks to the Detroit Police Department. The masks will be given to officers and put in patrol cars to be used by police and distributed in the community. Detroit police will also receive thermometers through a partnership with B Strong.
Face shields will be donated to police officers, paramedics and fire fighters in Detroit through a partnership with Ford.
Verlander is also donating to Feed the Frontlines Detroit, which works with local restaurants to deliver meals to healthcare workers and first responders.
