For some 11 years, before leaving to manage the career of her NBA superstar son, Christine Cameron made the daily trek across Middletown to her job as a patient care technician at Middlesex Hospital.

It was hardly a glamorous job, assisting nurses with basic care for patients like serving meals, changing bedding and helping them use the restroom. But it was an important one. And it’s all the more important these days, as all hospital workers have been thrust to the frontline of duty during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With that in mind, Cameron’s son, NBA All-Star and former UConn standout Andre Drummond, recently made a $100,000 donation to Middlesex Health’s Emergency Response Fund. The fund was established to help the health system, based in Middletown, with expenses related to COVID-19.

“Middletown is home to me,” Drummond told Hearst Connecticut Media. “I grew up there, went to school at UConn and my mother worked for Middlesex Health. So, donating and giving back to the community was a pretty easy decision to make — especially during this pandemic. Connecticut is being hit hard by COVID-19 and I really wanted to give to the Middlesex Health Emergency Response Fund so those on the frontlines can get the proper equipment they need right now.”

Needless to say, Middlesex Health president and CEO Vincent G. Capece, Jr. was extremely appreciative of the donation.

“This is a difficult time for everyone,” Capece said, “and we feel very fortunate that Andre chose to give back to his hometown in its time of need. His generous donation will help ease the burden on our health system and ensure that we can continue to provide the safest and best care possible to our patients.”

Drummond’s generosity should hardly be a surprise. The 6-foot-10 center, who was traded to Cleveland this season after spending his first 71/2 seasons in the league with Detroit, has always been quick to give back to his community. Since being selected by the Pistons as the ninth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, Drummond, who moved from Mount Vernon, N.Y. to Middletown with his mom at age 7, has made numerous donations to the Middlesex YMCA, where he used to play, “from dawn to dusk, 6 a.m. to midnight.” In 2017, Drummond returned to the building, signing autographs and posing for pictures while donating backpacks filled with school supplies to 300 local kids.

He has also been named a global ambassador for Special Olympics. More recently, Drummond, who has spent the past six weeks participating in an NBA 2K tournament (“I had a blast”), spending time with his family, working out, “listening to beats and writing songs,” partnered with JBL to donate headphones to “Little Kids Rock.” The project ensures that kids in Cleveland and Detroit have the right equipment to stay successful in school.

“Music is such a big part of my life, and JBL sound is always there with me,” said Drummond, “so it’s cool being able to share that with these kids.”

In fact, giving back to the community is something that is paramount to many former UConn players. Ray Allen’s “Ray of Hope” foundation has assisted sports-related, community-based programs for nearly 25 years. Caron Butler has sponsored numerous charities, including “Caron’s Coats for Kids,” which distributes coats, hats and gloves to kids in Washington, D.C. and his hometown of Racine, Wisc. Kemba Walker returns to the Bronx each year to conduct a free basketball game for local youths. Kevin Ollie established “Kevin’s Kourts,” to build adaptive basketball courts for kids with disabilities.

The list goes on and on. And it really all starts with UConn’s Hall of Fame former coach.

“I don’t think it’s a shock,” Jim Calhoun said. “Clearly, all of them, as men now, see that they can help in so many different ways.”

“It makes me feel very proud,” Calhoun added, “and very fulfilled.”

‘THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ME 10 YEARS AGO’

Few sports figures have been as generous with charity as Calhoun. He became involved with the Jimmy Fund while coaching at Northeastern in the 1970s and early 1980s. After taking over at UConn and quickly turning the program around, Calhoun found a bigger platform.

“I started to realize: People are actually listening to me,” he recalled. “We started doing well, one thing led to another, the next thing I know I’m playing charity golf tournaments, we’re doing walks and bike rides (for charity).”

For more than 20 years, Calhoun has sponsored the Jim Calhoun Charity Classic, which included an all-star basketball game featuring former UConn players, as well as a celebrity golf tournament. The event has been canceled this year due to the coronavirus, as first reported by Hearst Connecticut Media.

Calhoun also held an annual charity bike ride to raise money in the fight against cancer — even breaking five ribs during one ride in 2009. For several years, Calhoun held an annual turkey giveaway, where he and his UConn players handed out holiday meals to inner-city Hartford residents.

“I always remember Caron Butler and some of the other guys saying, ‘This could have been me 10 years ago,’” Calhoun recalled. “I think all these guys feel that responsibility. It makes me extremely proud.”

For Calhoun, charity quite literally started at home. He remembers how his hometown of Braintree, Mass. provided help and direction to he and his mother, brother and five sisters after his father, James, Sr., died of a heart attack when Jim was 15.

“A lot of people — Catholic charities, the church, my high school coach, townspeople — were there for us,” Calhoun recalled.

Now, Jim Calhoun, Andre Drummond and many other former UConn basketball products are there for their local communities, as well.

“I always wanted to be able to give back to my community,” Drummond said. “It’s definitely inspiring to see people like Coach Calhoun and others continue to give back. It’s something I want to continue to do in the places that I have called home.”

david.borges@hearstmediact.com