The NBA said it will reach its seasonlong goal to engage more than 1 million New York City youth via a fitness-related hoops program across the five boroughs as part of its NBA Cares All-Star efforts.
Alongside other rookie undertakings at NBA All-Star 2015, the league will host basketball and fitness clinics in 100 schools – 20 per borough – during the NBA All-Star FIT Celebration on NBA FIT Friday, Feb. 13. These efforts will be supported by Kaiser Permanente and will feature a member of the NBA family, from NBA All-Stars to WNBA players to NBA legends, at each site. Additionally, the NBA and State Farm will donate $500,000 to refurbish 10 indoor basketball courts – two per borough – in partnership with the New York City Department of Education.
Also on Friday, Feb. 13, NBA All-Stars will team with food rescue organization City Harvest, celebrity chef Mario Batali, NBA partners, and hundreds of volunteers from the NBA family to sort and pack 160,000 pounds of food to benefit more than 10,000 New Yorkers in need. The daylong project will take place at Metropolitan Pavilion with the support of SAP and State Farm as part of the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service.
The season-long NBA Cares All-Star community efforts tipped off in September with a Staten Island court dedication attended by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts. Although the original aim was to reach 500,000 kids throughout the Big Apple, the league upped the goal to 1 million children following responses from the Department of Education and community-based organizations. In partnership with the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks, NBA Cares will have hosted 754 events to encourage kids and families to lead healthy, active lifestyles across the five boroughs by the time the 64th annual NBA All-Star Game begins on Sunday, Feb. 15.
