The Indianapolis Colts and the Pacers each donated $125,000 to American Red Cross flood relief efforts in the state on Sunday, joining with the WNBA’s Fever and the G League’s Noblesville Boom in a joint response to flooding that has killed at least seven people and displaced many more across Indiana.
The announcement came before the Colts’ afternoon training camp practice at Grand Park Sports Complex in suburban Indianapolis. President Trump has issued an emergency declaration for more than half of Indiana’s 92 counties as the region experiences some of its worst flooding in decades.
Colts co-owner Kalen Jackson expressed the personal dimension of the disaster, saying it was emotional to see pictures and videos of places she knew from childhood and had visited just recently, including Conner Prairie and the Fashion Mall, both of which have been affected. She said friends in impacted areas made the flooding personal in a way that went beyond civic concern.
The scale of the effort
American Red Cross Indiana Region CEO Terry Stigdon said 200 people were served the previous night and more than 4,700 meals and snacks had been distributed in recent days. The combined $250,000 from the Colts and Pacers goes directly to that organization, and the Fever and Noblesville Boom participation signals a unified front from Indiana’s professional sports community.
The heavy rain that had fallen throughout the week returned Sunday morning before clearing by the time the Colts took the practice field.
A partnership built on community
Rachel Simon, chairwoman of the Pacers Foundation and daughter of owner Herb Simon, said the relationship between Indiana’s professional franchises is something they have been told is unusual, and that she considers it a genuine asset for the state. She described being able to call a partner and know they are going to say yes because they care as the foundation of what makes the collaboration meaningful.
The joint response is not a first for these franchises. The two have coordinated community efforts before, and the Fever’s inclusion reflects a broader definition of the state’s professional sports community that has expanded as the team has become a significant cultural force in Indianapolis in recent years.
The flooding and its impact
Indiana’s flooding has been severe enough to close roads, displace residents and draw a federal emergency declaration. The images coming from affected areas include locations that Indianapolis residents and Hoosiers statewide recognize as community landmarks, which has made the disaster feel immediate to people who were not themselves displaced.
The professional teams’ response serves both a practical function, providing direct financial support to a relief organization doing the work on the ground, and a symbolic one, signaling to Hoosiers that the teams they root for understand their state as something more than a venue for games.
Jackson’s comment about driving past the Fashion Mall and seeing it inaccessible, still sloshing, captures the kind of civic dislocation that follows major flooding when familiar places become suddenly unreachable. The $125,000 each from the Colts and Pacers does not make those roads passable again, but it goes to the people working to serve those who have been displaced until the water recedes.
The Red Cross’s count of more than 4,700 meals and snacks served in a matter of days reflects the volume of need the organization is managing.
