The coronavirus pandemic has hurt numerous countries around the globe, none more so than Italy, whether the death rate hovers around 10 percent.
Forbes 400 CEO and businessman Rocco Commisso dropped by CBS Sports Radio on Friday to shed light on Italy’s plight, as well as ask for donations to help a country so desperately in need.
“The situation in Italy is pretty critical,” Commisso said on The DA Show. “Just to put it in perspective, we have the highest number of deaths of any country in the world. Italy has had [over] 80,000 cases and [over] 8,200 deaths. . . . That’s a pretty large percentage. I don’t want to scare anyone, but that’s the way we have been affected. . . . It’s pretty serious. That’s part of the reason we started this fundraiser that’s attracted contributors from both Italy and the U.S., for which I want to give my thanks to all the people.”
Commisso, who owns the New York Cosmos and ACF Fiorentina, started a GoFundMe that has raised more than $700,000.
“We put this fund together to help the frontline people: the nurses, the doctors, the ambulance drivers,” Commisso said. “We’re buying equipment left and right. . . . It’s very easy for the government [in America] to go out and pass a $2 trillion stimulus package. In Italy, it’s not that easy. Italy is not used to private donations the way we are in America. . . . I would urge anyone in the U.S. – especially in the New York Metropolitan area, which has the largest percentage of Italian-Americans – to please do all you can to contribute to this dire situation that we find ourselves in [in] Italy.”