Hurricane season has been especially brutal this year, and Hurricane Irma's fury has added to that pile-on.

The Category 5 hurricane ripped through the Caribbean before making its way to Florida, where it was downgraded to Category 2, then a Category 1 storm.

Amongst the American-centered coverage, it could be easy to forget about the U.S. Virgin Islands, which is a United States territory.

In fact, one citizen living there, Jenn Manes, says those on the island feel forgotten, according to the New York Post. "The United States Virgin Islands is just that — part of the United States. But right now, no one up north seems to remember that.”

“Give us some help please," Manes said, "We have never needed you all more than we do right now. I cannot beg you enough. We are United States citizens. Please do not forget about us.”

NBA legend Tim Duncan is definitely not forgetting, though.

The former NBA star wrote an impassioned plea for relief via The Players Tribune. As Duncan noted, "Islands like ours tend to get forgotten after storms. We’re remote, which makes it hard to deliver supplies quickly, cheaply and adequately."

Duncan has been living in San Antonio, where he played for the Spurs, for almost two years, but the Virgin Islands is the home that created him.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about my old neighborhood in St. Croix, where I recently took my kids,” Duncan wrote. “I showed them where I used to play with my friends when I was their age. I showed them my high school. Now, I am asking myself, ‘What will still be there after the storms?’”

Representative Stacey Plaskett, the island territory’s delegate to Congress, has said that the Virgin Islands have been "leveled" by the storm.

Duncan took to the sports site to ask everyone to join him in donating funds to St. Croix in order to to aid in relief following the tragic effects of the powerful hurricane.

The ex-Spur has already donated $250,000, and has promised to match contributions up to $1 million. Every single dollar will go to relief efforts, and Duncan will personally make sure of that by “chartering an airplane full of supplies from San Antonio to St. Croix.”

“I’m not normally one to speak directly in the media, or write stuff publicly. So, I’m a little out of my comfort zone here,” Duncan pleaded. “But here I am, talking right to you, asking you for a favor. I promise I wouldn’t be asking if it didn’t matter so much.”

To learn more about Duncan's crowdfunding campaign and to donate, visit here.

Tim Duncan

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