Hi everyone! I know that I haven’t been the best at keeping up with my blog, but there are just so many things to do around here. However, I have found some brief time to pause and write about a subject that is near-and-dear to my heart: giving back.
Many people have asked why we are the Maine Red Claws, as opposed to Portland? It’s because we want to be Maine’s team and along those lines, we want to give back to communities state-wide. This is a fundamental piece of our ownership group’s mission in bringing this team here. This isn't just about basketball; this is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children and a lot of other people. There have been two events over the past week, which highlight the types of things the Maine Red Claws can do to help. These community events were the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Camp and the 3 Points for STRIVE program, presented by Hammond Lumber.
The Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Camp was held at the Portland Expo on Tuesday, July 28 for 250 children in southern Maine. As the video shows, it was a great day for all involved! Portland was one of eight cities nationwide to host one of these camps this summer. We were so blessed to have it here! It was great to see Red Claws head coach Austin Ainge, NBA Hall-of-Famer Bob Lanier, and 3-time WNBA All-Star Andrea Stinson, teaching the game of basketball and the game of life to children. Let me add that it was an absolute honor to be around Bob Lanier and Andrea Stinson; they are true ambassadors of the game. The Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA camp emphasized being a S.T.A.R. (Sportsmanship Teamwork Attitude Respect) through basketball drills and interactive discussions about good health, nutrition, and sportsmanship. These are the same values I strive to pass on to my daughter, speaking of strive.....
On Thursday, July 30 we announced the [url http://www.nba.com/dleague/maine/STRIVE072709.html]3 Points for STRIVE program[/url], presented by [url http://www.hammondlumber.com/]Hammond Lumber Company[/url]. For those who don’t know, [url http://pslstrive.org/]STRIVE[/url] is a non-profit located in South Portland that assists young adults (ages 15-24) with developmental disabilities. The highlight of the announcement today was when one of the STRIVE young adults spoke. His name is Eric and he’s be going to STRIVE U for five years. He really enjoys the Friday night socials. In addition he’s a HUGE Celtics fan and even wore a Paul Pierce jersey at the press conference. Hopefully with a little work we can soon get him in a Red Claws shirt!
Anyway here’s how the program works: during our inaugural season Hammond Lumber will make a donation to STRIVE for every made three pointer the Red Claws make during a home game this season. It is estimated that the program will raise ,500 for STRIVE; though I have decided to exclusively select players for this season that can shoot 3-pointers so this number can only go up! In all seriousness, we’d like Red Claws fans to make their own donation for every three-point field goal made by Red Claws players during home games this year. A nickel or dime for every trey will go a long, long way!
We have already raised close to ,000 for non-profits and we haven't even thrown the ball up yet. We take just as much pride in that as we do in the 1,100 season tickets we've already sold, because that's making a tangible difference in the lives of people who live here in Maine. For more information about our community programs please visit the [url http://www.nba.com/dleague/maine/Community.html]community page[/url] of our website.
