Sporting Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza is leading a coalition of players across Major League Soccer to rally support for Hurricane Eta relief in his native Honduras.
The devastating effects of Hurricane Eta over the last seven days have left Honduras with widespread flooding, mudslides and a shortage of essential products, especially for children. Because the aftermath of the storm has made social distancing difficult for citizens, Honduras has also struggled to stop potential spread of COVID-19.
In response to the emergency situation, Espinoza—who was born in Honduras and has represented his country at two FIFA World Cups—has assembled a group of fellow Hondurans in MLS to generate awareness and raise money for aid organizations that are on the ground in Honduras. These organizations have the ability to provide direct support to the thousands of people impacted by Hurricane Eta.
Espinoza and his fellow Hondurans are encouraging donations to the following three organizations:
- Humanity and Hope United Foundation — A non-profit working to assist underserved villages and remote parts of Honduras
- Operación Frijol — A non-profit that seeks to counter the COVID-19 pandemic by feeding those in need.
- Food for the Poor — A U.S.-based non-profit that is providing disaster relief kits to Honduras to help families in the path of Hurricane Eta.
“Being Honduran, seeing my people struggling – dealing with COVID and this hurricane – to see this initiative come together in support of my people, it makes me very happy because I know it will provide help to those that need it," Espinoza said. "All the publicity we’ll be able to generate around this is so important to me because I know it means that help will come soon. This initiative will reach people that have the means to help Honduras."
Honduran MLS players joining Espinoza in the cause include Houston Dynamo duo Maynor Figueroa and Boniek Garcia, Bryan Acosta of FC Dallas, Danilo Acosta of LA Galaxy, Brayan Beckeles of Nashville SC, Douglas Martinez of Real Salt Lake, Andy Najar of LAFC and Romell Quioto of the Montreal Impact. To learn more about the initiative, click here.
Espinoza has visited Honduras to perform charity work in the past, notably becoming a volunteer partner with humanitarian nonprofit Unbound and hosting a soccer clinic for underserved youths in his homeland.
A native of Puerto Cortes, Honduras, Espinoza has earned 53 career caps for the Honduran national team since debuting in 2009. As a member of Los Catrachos, he competed at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Now in his 11th season with Sporting Kansas City, Espinoza ranks third in club history with 299 appearances in all competitions. He has tallied 11 goals and 41 assists during his illustrious Sporting career, helping the club to three Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles and four first-place conference finishes since arriving in Kansas City as a 2008 MLS SuperDraft selection.
