Volleyball community unites in favor of Rio Grande do Sul; see how to participate

“When the volleyball community comes together for something, we are very strong.” The words of Daniel da Luz, a former athlete with more than two decades of career, perfectly illustrate the movement initiated by him together with two other colleagues, Rafael Fantin (Dentinho) and Henrique Hubner, in favor of Rio Grande do Sul. The state suffering from the consequences of the worst flood in its history.

Residents of Bento Gonçalves, they see up close the damage caused by rain and landslides in the south of the country. With the desire to act, the three created a true chain of good among volleyball stars to raise funds. Daniel spoke to the report of TEMPO Sports about the campaign.

Last Sunday (5/5), athletes and former athletes were asked to donate shirts that will be raffled off for fans and volleyball lovers. All money raised by the raffle will be donated to the reconstruction of cities and lives affected by the tragedy.

“The movement took on a scale that I honestly wasn’t expecting. So far we’ve collected 87 shirts and the count is only increasing”, said Daniel.

And the names are countless. Starting with Bruninho, captain of the Brazilian team and one of the great supporters and promoters of the movement, going on to Pri Daroit, Tande, Honorato, Cachopa, Filipe Ferraz, Fernanda Garay, Lucão, Kasiely… The list is gigantic. Even stars from other countries joined in, donating shirts from teams like Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba.

“Sport passes, we don’t even remember the results from the time we played. What remains is friendship”, said Daniel.

How to participate

Players who want to volunteer to donate shirts can contact Daniel on Instagram (@atleta.investidor). On the same social network profile, the link to purchase numbers for the raffle will be published this Tuesday (7), at 8 pm.

“We estimated 2 thousand numbers, but now, with this proportion, we are going to think about increasing it. Thank God our country is saved, because a lot of people showed solidarity”, he said.

Scenario is catastrophic

Bento Gonçalves is one of the cities that is at a higher location, therefore, it was not as affected by the rains, however, landslides around it left residents stranded. According to Daniel, all access is provided only by helicopters.

“After the water subsides and we can see the extent of the damage, we will need financial resources to be able to rebuild everything. A lot of people lost everything. It’s not that the earth fell over the road, it collapsed the road. We are stranded, there’s just access by helicopter. It’s a war scenario”, reported the former player.