Felipe Massa makes donation to victims of flooding in Brazil

I will donate 50,000 reales (about $21,500) from my personal account, plus an outfit with my signature to be auctioned. It's the least I can do for those people," current Formula One runner-up Felipe Massa said in a press conference in Florianopolis, the capital city of the state of Santa Catarina.

Felipe Massa is in Florianopolis to take part in the Stars International Challenge to be held this weekend at Los Ingleses karts track; another celebrity attending the event is seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

The event organizers will imitate Massa's action and will donate, will issue a $21,500 cheque for the local government; they will also open a stall where people can make donations.

"This is a sad situation, but I think this event could be a means to give our help. We'll have the race with the aim of helping others," Massa said in a bid to defend the organizers from the criticism they've got for not having suspended the event in a place that suffers the consequences of a natural disaster.

The gate money earned from the ticket sale will be donated to charity institutions like the one ran by former tennis player Gustavo Kuerten, who was born in Santa Catarina.

In addition to the high number of people who died as a result of the heavy rain, there are about 20 missing people and about 80,000 people affected by it.