Adrian Peterson Donates $100K To Hometown For Flood Relief

Six people died and the town of Palestine, Texas is left devastated after flash floods ripped through the town this weekend. According to The Weather Channel, five of the deceased were four children and their great-grandmother.

The town of about 19,000 people is the hometown of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson who is partnering with the Salvation Army and traveling back to Palestine this week.

“My mom is over 50, and in her lifespan she’s never seen a flood in Palestine,” Peterson told ESPN. “That’s what was so unusual about it. We’ve never had an issue with flooding. We’ve had heavy rains for days at a time, but nothing to this magnitude. For this to hit overnight, and the damage that it caused, it was devastating.”

Peterson has made an initial donation to jump start the fundraising efforts in Palestine in the amount of $100,000. He plans to match any donations that are made after that.

“If people put $200,000 in there, I’ll match it,” he said.

In the ESPN article Peterson talks about childhood memories from the area where the five family members were swept away and playing high school with the sixth victim, Giovanni Oliva.

“No one ever thought this was going to happen,” he said. “We’re working on seeing how we can help the cause even more and give out more. I want a lot to be done, so when it does come, we’re able to do the little things to help.”

If you are interested in making a donation to the Salvation Army you can text “AP28” to 51555 to get the process started.