As a successful professional athlete, NBA All-Star Antawn Jamison realizes that he has the status and
financial ability to enhance the lives of those in need. He entertains and excites the lives of so many
basketball fans, but he also wants to touch the lives of the impoverished that may not have a television
or the means to attend his games.
KaBOOM!
Antawn and national non-profit KaBOOM! have announced a new partnership to encourage and promote
play among children across the country.
KaBOOM!, an organization that empowers communities to build playgrounds, teamed with Jamison
to sponsor a playground build in his hometown of Shreveport in September of 2008. Additionally,
Jamison serves as a KaBOOM! All-Star
Playmaker – an extension of the Playmaker Network
consisting of national leaders and celebrities who
take action for play on behalf of KaBOOM!, while
promoting the importance of play.
Jamison participated alongside hundreds of volunteers to build a KaBOOM! playground
in just one day in New Orleans on Feb. 15 at the Mahalia Jackson Early Childhood and Family
Learning Center in conjunction with the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. Inspired by the massive
community involvement and the tangible result of a playground that will serve thousands of
children, Jamison contacted KaBOOM! to facilitate building a playground in his childhood home
of Shreveport.
“Encouraging children to play by building playgrounds is important to me because it not only
allows a kid to be a kid, but it also helps bring entire communities together,” Jamison said.
“Those are two of my biggest charitable goals. It seems that television and video games are
making so many children grow up too quickly these days. Playing video games is fun but playing
outside and interacting with other kids is where friendships are built and dreams are created.”
The playground that was built in Shreveport was designed based on drawings submitted by
children from the
area at a Design Day event held prior to the build. A locally formed playground
planning committee worked
closely with Antawn and a local partner to prepare for the build, which
took place in just one day through
the efforts of Antawn, a Shreveport-based organization, KaBOOM!
and volunteers from the local community.
“Helping out with the build in New Orleans was one of my most memorable experiences during All-Star
Weekend,” Jamison said. “I didn’t realize how much hard work goes into building a playground. It was very
inspirational to see all those community members and volunteers working together to provide a place where
kids can play and feel safe. There’s nothing like physically helping to build a playground for kids. I’m looking
forward to the next build so I can step in and get my hands dirty. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Jamison also participated in a
KaBOOM! playground build with KOOL-AID in southeastern Washington, D.C.
less than three weeks
after his build in Louisiana!
On July 11, 2009, Antawn built a playground at the Simmons YMCA in Charlotte, NC in conjunction with his All-Star
Basketball camp. Read more!
Read more about Antawn's efforts with KABOOM!
Check out photos from Antawn's build in New Orleans, LA.
Check out photos from Antawn's build in Bossier City, LA.
Check out photos from Antawn's build in Washington, DC.
Check out video from Antawn's build in Charlotte, NC.
Read Antawn's KaBOOM! blog!
As an NBA rookie with the Golden State Warriors, Antawn started “Antawn’s Army,” a
charity ticket
program in which he purchased tickets for numerous youth and student
organizations every month,
enabling them to attend a Warriors home game as his special
guests. Antawn has continued this
program in Dallas when he played for the Mavericks and in
Washington with the Wizards.
As a member of the Warriors, Antawn enthusiastically participated in several of their educational, health
and recreational programs, including the “Tall Tales” Reading Program, Warriors Basketball Camp and
the Warriors Prostate Cancer Awareness Program. He also served as a member of the Warriors Foundation Board of Directors. And, during the 2001-02 season, he donated $10,000
to the Alan Beaven Family Fund, an educational trust fund for the children of one of
the heroes of Flight 93 who was also an Oakland resident.
He participated in the Warriors' annual Thanksgiving H.O.O.P. Caravan by serving Thanksgiving
dinners to residents of domestic violence shelters at a local restaurant. And on November 19,
2002,
he participated in the Warriors Sega NBA 2K3 Tournament in San Francisco, a community
event for youth.
Then on December 19, 2002, Antawn shared his holiday spirit by hosting the Warriors annual
Community Holiday Party at the Oakland Zoo for 150 children from local youth centers, including the
Alameda Boys & Girls Club, Boys & Girls Club of Hayward, Eastlake YMCA and the Latino
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Each child received a gift and enjoyed pizza,
entertainment,
holiday treats and visits from a few of Antawn’s friends and teammates. Antawn also
presented a major gift to
each center, as well as group tickets to the zoo’s annual “Zoo Lights” holiday show.
After Antawn was traded from Golden State to the Dallas Mavericks, his desire to give back didn't diminish.
During Nov. 17-25, 2003, Antawn gave $10,000 to match teammates Michael Finley and Antoine Walker’s
donations for Finley’s Buckets for Hunger Thanksgiving Challenge benefiting the North Texas Food Bank. As a
result of donations from the Mavs and fans, $109,697.70 was raised. This is equivalent to over 750,000 pounds
or approximately 20 tractor-trailers of food to feed North Texas families.
A Better Tomorrow
In 2002, Antawn launched his “A Better Tomorrow” community relations initiative as a means to execute service projects to strengthen his relationships within his community and provide assistance to those less fortunate during the holidays, when help is most needed. Antawn wanted his social projects to show the underprivileged his desire to provide them with “A Better Tomorrow,” one that gave them hope for the future.
Antawn’s “A Better Tomorrow” initiative is comprised of the following annual projects that Antawn executes each year: Thanksgiving with the Tar Heels, Shoes for the Uptown Shelter, The Christmas Explorer’s Project, March Madness, The Antawn C. Jamison Scholarship and Antawn’s All-Star Basketball Camp.
Thanksgiving with the Tar Heels
In November 2002, Antawn joined his fellow UNC Alum Jerry Stackhouse to purchase turkeys and other Thanksgiving dinner items for the UNC Men’s Basketball team to distribute to the Ronald McDonald House and Inter Faith Council Shelter in Chapel Hill. This began an annual tradition that continued on in November 2003, as Antawn again joined Stackhouse in purchasing Thanksgiving supplies for the UNC Men’s Basketball team to distribute. UNC Coach Roy Williams, the players and the other members of the coaching staff delivered the supplies, signed autographs and gave out team posters.
In November 2004, Antawn and Stackhouse were joined by fellow Alum Brendan Haywood in purchasing Thanksgiving supplies (14 turkeys, numerous bags of stuffing, cans of cranberry sauce and green beans) for the future 2005 National Champion UNC Men's basketball team to distribute to the Ronald McDonald House and IFC Homeless Shelter.
In November 2005, Antawn again joined Stackhouse and Haywood to give back at Thanksgiving. This time, the trio joined forces to purchase 100 gift bags and Thanksgiving supplies for the UNC Men's basketball team to deliver to the North Carolina Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House and IFC Homeless Shelter. The trio went on to duplicate their generosity in November of 2006 as they again purchased 100 gift bags and Thanksgiving supplies for the team to distribute to the same three places.
Shoes for the Uptown Shelter at Christmas
Antawn truly kicked off his "A Better Tomorrow" campaign by helping bring the holidays to a homeless men’s shelter in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. For the previous 13 years, Hornets owner George Shinn and the team had provided the men at the shelter with new shoes on Christmas Eve. Upon learning that the assistance would end because of the organization’s relocation to New Orleans, Antawn decided to step in and sponsor the program by purchasing over $4,000 worth of shoes. On December 23, the residents of the Uptown Men’s Shelter/George Shinn Center were fitted with their new shoes.
The shoe project has become one of Antawn’s favorite projects as he also purchased shoes for the shelter in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Although he’s never able to attend and personal give out the shoes (due to his NBA schedule), his family and friends are there each year to help out. In 2008, Antawn partnered with national non-profit Soles4Souls to provide shoes for the Uptown Shelter. Soles4Souls provided over 250 pairs of shoes for the Uptown Shelter on Antawn's behalf!
Antawn has spent over $24,000 providing over 2,250 pair of shoes to the men at the Uptown Shelter to date.
The Christmas Explorers Project
On December 22, 2003, Antawn helped sponsor a program with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Explorer program that provided Christmas packages for about 650 needy families. The packages, which were delivered to the families by the Police, Fire Dept. and various volunteers, contained food, bicycles, gifts and flowers. The Police Explorer Program had executed this project for 29 years, but found trouble in receiving funding for that year. After being informed of the problems with donations, Antawn gave approximately $5,500 to fund over half of the project.
Antawn has continued his support with the Explorers Project by giving donations in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. To date, he has donated over $30,000 and helped over 4,250 families in need.
March Madness with Right Moves For Youth
On March 20, 2004, Antawn teamed up with Right Moves For Youth, a Charlotte non-profit agency dedicated to reducing school dropout rates, juvenile truancy, delinquency and violence in Mecklenburg County. This was done to provide a March Madness Basketball, Cheerleading and Step tournament to reward and recognize club members who have shown marked improvement in their school attendance or maintained less than a 10 percent absenteeism rate throughout the school year. Antawn provided $3,500 to support this program.
March Madness continues to grow each year and Antawn continues to support and fund it. He funded it again in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. He’s donated over $23,000 for the program to date.
The Antawn C. Jamison Scholarship
In 2003, Antawn established the “Antawn C. Jamison Scholarship” at Providence High School. The need-based scholarship is given to two student athletes (one male and one female) who display good citizenship and are in good academic standing. The total amount of each scholarship is $4,000. The recipients will collect $1,000 each year that they enroll in college for a total of four years. The Principal, Athletic Director, and coaches of the basketball teams make up the scholarship selection committee. Eleven scholarships have been awarded for a total amount of $29,000 to date. Three scholarships were given out in 2006 and 2008 because the scholarship committee couldn’t decide between two male winners (they split the amount). The names of the winners are: 2003 -
Chase Laws,
Ashley Jefferson; 2004 -
Quentin Martin,
Jasmine Morris; 2005 -
Brendan Brokaw,
Allison Mashburn; 2006 -
Melissa Larmore,
Shane Small,
Ryan Semeniuk;2007 -
Mark Greene,
Courtney May; 2008 -
Bonnie Adams,
Thomas Berlacker,
Lamar Bradbury; 2009 - Casi Johnson and Luke Campolieta.
Other Projects
After Antawn was traded from Golden State to Dallas, his desire to give back didn't diminish. During Nov. 17-25, 2003, Antawn gave $10,000 to match teammates Michael Finley and Antoine Walker’s donations for Finley’s Buckets for Hunger Thanksgiving Challenge benefiting the North Texas Food Bank. As a result of donations from the Mavs and fans, $109,697.70 was raised. This is equivalent to over 750,000 pounds or approximately 20 tractor-trailers of food to feed North Texas families.
The Pastor’s House
On July 9, 2003, Antawn discovered a family (Suzette and Samuel Scott) who were desperately trying to raise money to have the second half of the Habitat House built. A typical Habitat home costs about $48,000 to erect, however the Scott’s home, which was dubbed “The Pastor’s House” because several different churches and individuals were involved in donating and building the structure, had only raised about $20,000. Builders had to stop working on the house numerous times because of lack of funds, which they attributed to the poor economy. Antawn went to the Scott’s new home and personally presented them with a check for $20,000 to fully fund the second half of their house.
Extra Effort Awards
In May 2003, Antawn began a program with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system that rewarded about 200 students in six schools for their dedication and hard work. “Antawn’s Extra Effort Awards” was a pilot program that focused on middle and high school students. The schools involved in the program were: Providence High, Olympic High, Garinger High, Marie G. Davis Middle, Eastway Middle and Kennedy Middle. Antawn rewarded all recipients with pizza parties, autographed certificates and recognition on his website.
In May 2004, Antawn again sponsored his Extra Effort Awards in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system for the second consecutive year. He rewarded over 350 kids from the 14 Equity Plus Middle Schools in Charlotte for their hard work and dedication in and out of the classroom throughout the year. All recipients were given pizza parties, autographed certificates and recognition on his website.
STANDUP FOR KIDS
Even though Antawn was traded to the Washington Wizards before the 2004-2005 season, he has continued to give back to the community. Before the season started, he decided to donate two dollars to the STANDUP FOR KIDS Organization for every point he scored during the season. His donation was used for the organization’s new program to help homeless and street kids get an education.
Antawn showed that he cares and encouraged companies and individuals to do the same by pledging to donate some amount for his season ending point total to STANDUP FOR KIDS as well. “Everyone deserves the chance to get a high school diploma that will help them get a job and support themselves,” adds Antawn. Antawn’s total donation was more than $3,000.
Time-Out Roundtable Discussions with the Wizards
During the summer of 2005, Antawn took a vacation from basketball but not from making an impact in the lives of DC youth. In conjunction with the Washington Wizards, Antawn hosted three “Time-Out” Roundtable discussions with students in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan community.
First, he traveled to the Collegiate Academy at Carter G. Woodson High School in Northeast DC and was accompanied by NDC 4 Sports Director George Michael. Next he traveled to the Duval Senior High School in Lanham, Md. and was accompanied by CBS 9 Sports Reporter Joyce Jackson. Last but not least, he was joined by two-time Emmy Award winner James Brown at Mount Vernon Senior High School in Alexandria, Va.
Bill of Rights Institute
In September 2008, Antawn partnered with the
Bill of Rights Institute (a Virginia based non-profit) to inspire students to participate in their annual "Being an American" essay contest. He served as a spokesperson for the 2008-2009 contest across the country. He also starred in audio and video public service announcements (PSA) to help promote the contest to high school students. (Check out Antawn's PSA!)
“It’s important for kids to think about what being a good citizen means to them – what being an American means to them. For me, it’s about making our communities better places to live and work,” says Jamison. “I hope that the essay contest inspires students to think about how important it is to be active and engaged citizens.”
Antawn’s Army in DC
During the 2004-09 seasons, Antawn has teamed with Washington non-profit Most Valuable Kids (MVK) to continue his “Antawn’s Army” ticket program! He donated a block of tickets to several Wizards home games to MVK, who distributed the tickets to dozens of their partner organizations, which benefit underprivileged youth in the Washington, DC area.
Antawn’s Awards
On August 12, 2003, Antawn was the recipient of the NBA's Community Assist Award for the month of July. He was honored for working hard to make an impact on the community in both North Carolina and the Bay Area in California.
He's also a a two-time honoree by The Sporting News as one of the "Good Guys" in sports!
After the 2004-05 season, Antawn was awarded the Magic Johnson Award. The award honors an NBA player who combines excellence on the court with outstanding cooperation with the media and, by extension, the fans.
Antawn has also received numerous awards from organizations he’s worked with such as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Right Moves For Youth and A Better World.