Kentucky Basketball to hold telethon to raise funds for tornado relief

As expected, John Calipari and the Kentucky Basketball team are stepping up to help those affected by the tornadoes in Western Kentucky. Following his team’s 66-62 loss to Notre Dame, Calipari announced that the program will hold a telethon, tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, to raise money for disaster relief.

“The Commonwealth really was dealt an unbelievable blow that is going to take decades to fix,” Calipari said after the game. “These tornadoes came through and the death, the destruction — you’ve seen the pictures.”

Last night, four tornadoes touched down in the western part of the state, causing widespread damage. The town of Mayfield was almost entirely decimated. The death toll is 70-plus and could reach triple figures as recovery efforts continue. This morning, John Calipari and the team stopped by the Grotto on Notre Dame’s campus to pray for those affected.

“Our team, we knew about it,” Calipari said. “We were tracking it. We went to the Grotto this morning before we shot around and we talked about it after the game. I said, ‘We played basketball. This is someone losing their mother and working in a warehouse, working for Amazon. And all of a sudden, this happens.’ So now it’s all hands on deck.”

This is hardly the first time Calipari has spearheaded relief efforts during his time in Lexington. In 2010, Kentucky held the “Hoops for Haiti” telethon to raise funds for survivors of the earthquake that left Port-au-Prince in rubble. When a tornado hit West Liberty in 2012, he toured the damage via helicopter, landing at KSR’s live show. He and his wife Ellen matched donations from listeners up to $25,000.

Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund

Before the game, Governor Andy Beshear called the pregame show to give listeners an update on what he called the worst tornado in the state’s history.

“The deadliest and most devastating tornado event in our history,” Beshear said. “We are resilient, we are one Kentucky today. We are praying for each other and grieving with one another, but we will also build with one another. It’s going to take time.”

“Prayers, thoughts,” Calipari said tonight. “People lost houses. You walk in and the house is gone. People inside the houses huddled in a bathroom, a basement, a corner, and their house gets blown apart and they’re just lucky to be living. That’s something that obviously — it kind of puts things in there and makes you think.”

Tonight was not fun, but last night’s events should provide plenty of perspective. If you would like to donate to the relief efforts, the state of Kentucky has set up a secure fund at TeamWKYReliefFund.ky.gov.