“Tell me everything you know about Giannis Antetokounmpo,” I said to my twelve-year old son last week over breakfast. I was staring in disbelief at my cell phone screen, which had suddenly begun pinging with rapid-fire texts.
“It’s pronounced Yannis, not “Gee-annis,” he said witheringly through a mouthful of scrambled eggs. “He’s basically the most famous basketball player ever. Why?”
I grinned and stuck my tongue out at him, then went back to scanning the text chain. The NBA had just announced that “Team Giannis,” led by all-star team captain Giannis Antetokounmpo in Saturday’s NBA All-Star Game, had chosen Raise the Future to be its 2023 nonprofit beneficiary. This means that not only will our organization receive national exposure and a transformational six-figure donation from the NBA, but that over one hundred of our youth and families will be able to attend the game.
I sent a trail of exclamation points and heart emojis to the group, thrilled that the NBA is continuing its tradition of supporting nonprofits based in the All-Star Game’s host cities, and proud that Raise the Future will join the esteemed company of past recipients like The United Negro College Fund, Second Harvest Food Bank and Right Moves for Youth (Team Giannis’s 2019 pick), and alongside team captain Lebron James’ 2023 pick, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah.
I turned to my son. He is a kid who wakes up early before school to shoot hoops in our ice-encrusted alley, and whose bedroom walls are papered with posters of his basketball idols. “Team Giannis chose Raise the Future for this year’s All-Star game,” I said, not knowing how – or if – any of this would land. “They’re donating money to help us do our work, and by choosing us they’re showing that kids living in foster care are important and deserve support.”
He processed this for a moment. My son joined our family via adoption five years ago and is no stranger to the challenges that youth in foster care face. For this reason, he has always been keenly interested in my work. “You can never leave your work, Mom!” he’ll warn if I even mention being tired after a long day, or act stressed over a project. “You have to keep helping those kids.” Now he fixed his eyes on me. “Let me get this straight,” he said. “Giannis is gonna help find families for kids that need them?”
“Not exact-“ I started to say, but he had already jumped out of his chair, grabbing my phone to look at the press release. “I know why he picked your company, Mom!” he said, eyes wide with excitement as he danced from one foot to another. “He knows what it’s like to have a hard life growing up.”
Over the next few minutes he rattled off about a dozen facts from memory about the 28-year-old star, his words tumbling over each other: “He has four brothers! He’s from Africa and had to move to another country, just like I did! He didn’t start playing basketball until he was older, just like me.” And finally, “He’s a good man, Mom. He does a lot for other people, like getting diapers for babies and stuff” (I found out later he was referencing this cool initiative with the Milwaukee Diaper Mission). I listened and laughed, marveling at how closely he had been paying attention to the private life of this very public figure.
As a Development Director for Raise the Future, I have a pretty good idea of what an incredible impact Team Giannis’s financial support will have for the youth and families that use our services. But I hadn’t thought much about what this young superstar’s endorsement means to the kids we serve until that breakfast conversation with my son.
Over the next week, he peppered me with questions about how we would use the money to help kids, and bragged to his friends that Team Giannis is working with his mom to support kids in foster care. As my son would phrase it, something about a public acknowledgment from one of his idols “hits different,” resonating with him in a way that other gestures of affirmation and support can’t match.
On February 19th our family will be cheering for Team Giannis from the couch, along with thousands of others in the stadium and around the country. As an adoption professional, I’m grateful for this generous gift on behalf of the many kids and families that need it. And as a mom, I’m grateful for role models like Giannis Antetokounmpo, who show kids like my son what it means to lead, both on and off the court.
GO TEAM GIANNIS! Raise the Future is honored to have been chosen by Team Giannis as a charity beneficiary for the 2023 NBA All-Star Games in Utah.
Every quarter of the NBA All-Star Game will count towards supporting two community-based organizations in Utah and Raise the Future is one of them! Nearly Up to $1,000,000 will be contributed across the two organizations through the NBA All-Star Game and the NBA All-Star Practice presented by AT&T.