NBA Player Gives $15-Million to Hospital in Congo

Dikembe Mutombo, a player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Associatioin, donated $15-million to open a hospital in his native Congo, reports USA Today.

The 300-bed institution, named the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center after the basketball star’s mother, is located near Kinshasa, the capital, and is scheduled to open September 2.

The project, started by the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, has been in the works since 1997.

The foundation has raised $7-million for the hospital, mostly through Mr. Mutombo making personal appeals to corporations. Players have together donated about $500,000, as has their union, and team owners have given $700,000.

However, Mr. Mutombo is still $7-million short of the building’s cost, and has announced a campaign to attract 100,000 American donors to donate $10 per month to cover the hospital’s yearly annual operating expenses.