Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward announced he plans to pay for a large expense for 21 unemployed Cleveland residents who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic:

"It's unique for me because the community I'm fortunate enough to play for is the community that helped raise me my entire life," Ward told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. "So to help your neighbors in a time when they might be struggling is just a no-brainer." 

The state of Ohio has over 2,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the state has been swift in shutting down all non-essential businesses. There have been over 200,000 confirmed cases in the United States overall, most of which in New York and New Jersey.

Ward will be choosing the recipients through his Make Them Know Your Name foundation, encouraging affected workers to tell their story through an application on the organization's website. 

"It's important to me that people know they're not alone in this," Ward said. "We're all in this together. That's the Ohio way."