Rex Chapman reveals recipients of first grants from his COVID-19 Relief Fund
Former Kentucky basketball star Rex Chapman announced Monday the first recipients of grants from his COVID-19 Relief Fund.
The first grant announced went to Harrison Memorial Hospital. Kentucky’s first case of the coronavirus was a Harrison County resident.
Additional grants went to FoodChain, the non-profit commercial kitchen in downtown Lexington; God’s Pantry Food Bank; and Radio Lex.
In a video Chapman posted on Twitter, Dr. Stephen Besson said Harrison Memorial Hospital will use the grant to purchase PPE (personal protective equipment) supplies and “to help fund our newly established Cough Clinic. Our Cough Clinic is an in-hospital clinic where folks can come to who are concerned about symptoms of cough or symptoms of the virus where we can quickly, efficiently, safely and thoroughly examine you and see if you need to be tested or if you need further treatment.”
Kristin Hughes of FoodChain said: “Thanks to a grant from the Rex Chapman COVID-19 Relief Fund, FoodChain will be able to continue producing and distributing over 300 made-from-scratch, hot meals per day to those in our community who are most at risk during this ongoing crisis. It will also allow us to extend our reach in the community and provide more meals for seniors and students during the upcoming scheduled spring break.”
Of the God’s Pantry grant, Chapman remarked on Twitter, that “some of us are going to bed during these scary times on a full stomach. Some of us aren’t. Your donations are feeding people’s stomachs — and their souls.”
Radio Lex, which operates WLXU-FM 93.9 and WLXL-FM 95.7, “is offering critical information about health, safety and safety in more than 20 languages on the air and online,” general manager Mark Royse said.
Chapman, who played for UK in the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons and scored 1,073 points while gaining the nickname “King Rex,” started the charity on March 23.
He said he got the idea of using his 585,000 Twitter followers to try to raise relief funds.
“People are going to be out of work,” he said on Twitter. “Going to be hungry. It’s really scary stuff.”
