Lance McCullers joins Houston athletes by donating meals to Houston Food Bank

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston athletes are stepping up to the plate as families deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Lance McCullers Jr. joined the list of donors by giving meals to the Houston Food Bank for families affected by schools that have closed.

Alex Bregman is also donating meals. On Saturday, Astros outfielder George Springer announced that he would be donating $100,000 to Minute Maid Park employees who are impacted by the cancellation of events.

In an interview with ABC13 Sunday, McCullers said he wants to give back to Houston because of how great the community has been to him over the last five years.

"The health and the safety of the American people is obviously first, above and beyond sports," McCullers said about the season opener being suspended. "We want to be able to give people that escape, especially in times like this where there is some panic, some unrest."

You can watch David Nuño's full interview with McCullers in the video above.

The kind gestures come after it was announced earlier this week that the MLB is suspending spring training and pushing back the season opener amid growing coronavirus concerns.

READ MORE: MLB suspends spring training games and delays opening day

"This action is being taken in the interests of the safety and well-being of our players, clubs and our millions of loyal fans. MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season," a statement by MLB read.

MLB also indefinitely postponed 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games in Tucson, Arizona.

"MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible," MLB added.

Texans star J.J. Watt joined the list with an announcement Sunday that he, and his wife Kealia Ohai, will be donating $350K to the Houston Food Bank.