The initiative began during the week of Thanksgiving, where teams from both the NBA and NBA Development League found many ways throughout the week to lend a helping hand in the community that supports them on a daily basis.

During the week NBA and NBA D-League teams were active in the community serving up Thanksgiving meals to families in need. Whether it was an entire team event or not, players were out in the community representing their respective teams and made sure to make a difference one way or another.

Here’s a look at some of the things that the NBA and NBA D-League teams did for their community:

Nov. 19:

• Boston Celtics guard Jason Terry provided Thanksgiving meals to 100 families at the Shelburne Community Center.
• The Los Angeles Lakers, led by Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace, served Thanksgiving dinner to mentoring pairs from Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters at Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que in Torrance.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder hosted a holiday carnival for families at the City Rescue Mission.
• Sacramento Kings players helped cook and serve a complete Thanksgiving dinner to 500 individuals at the Trinity Life Center.
• Washington Wizards hosted the Food 4 Families drive at the Verizon Center.  Throughout the day, staff, front office executives, players, coaches and wives collected canned goods and monetary donations from fans.

   

Nov. 20:

• The entire Atlanta Hawks team, coaching staff and executives joined United Way to serve a Thanksgiving meal to 300 individuals at Clarkston Community Center.
• Charlotte Bobcats players distributed 1,000 meals to families in need from the Cats Care Mobile Pantry at the Time Warner Arena and hosted a special Thanksgiving dinner at a local bowling alley for 200 families from A Child’s Place.
• Cleveland Cavaliers players served Thanksgiving dinner to 200 guests from Project Act at the Quicken Loans Arena practice court.
• The Dallas Mavericks hosted the 15^th Annual Mavs Turkey Dunk for 100 boys and girls from the Salvation Army at the American Airlines Center.
• Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee helped sponsor the 21^st Annual City of Oakland Turkey Dinner, which served thousands of low-income or homeless seniors, families and individuals.
• The Miami Heat hosted the 21^st Annual Heat Thanksgiving Celebration, a block party event for area residents.  In addition, 600 underprivileged families received an entire Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings from the Miami Heat.
• Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook and his Foundation provided Thanksgiving meals to 800 disadvantaged individuals in his hometown of South Central Los Angeles and in Oklahoma City.
• The Orlando Magic fed approximately 1,100 Central Florida children and families through Thanksgiving meal distributions on November 20 and 22. J.J. Redick hosted a meal distribution at the Rosemont Community Center on Nov. 20.
• The Utah Jazz hosted its Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for thousands of homeless and low-income residents on the EnergySolutions Arena concourse.
• The Springfield Armor served Thanksgiving meals to families in need at the YMCA of Greater Springfield.

   

Nov. 21:

• The Golden State Warriors players hosted a special postgame meet and greet with families in the Bay Area most in need during the holiday season. They surprised the participating families with Warriors gift bags and other goodies and mingled with the families, signed autographs and posed for photos.
• The Tulsa 66ers assisted the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope by serving meals to homeless residents.

   

Nov. 22:

• The Orlando Magic hosted a Thanksgiving Breakfast at the Coalition for the Homeless.  Participants included Magic players Jameer Nelson, Glen Davis and Maurice Harkless, along with Head Coach Jacque Vaughn, CEO Alex Martins, General Manager Rob Hennigan, and Community Ambassadors Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw.

   

Nov. 23:

• The Orlando Magic teamed up with the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida in recognition of National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Month in November.  The team donated $10 from every ticket purchased for the November 23 game vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Coalition.

One week following the Thanksgiving events, NBA Cares Season of Giving continued with their initiative, this time with their focus on Worlds AIDS Day, which took place on December 1, 2012.

Through a variety of partnerships, including the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Greater Than AIDS campaign, GBCHealth, and (RED)^TM, the league and its teams generated awareness and funds for HIV/AIDS education and research through special on-court apparel and in-arena activation.

Players from all the 28 NBA and NBA D-League teams that competed on December 1, 2012, wore red-and-white adidas shooting shirts featuring the NBA Logoman wearing an AIDS awareness ribbon, along with red headbands and wristbands, and the coaches wore the ribbons as well. In addition to this, NBA TV studio turned red in honour of World AIDS Day and featured two NBA games: Brooklyn at Miami and Sacramento at L.A. Clippers.

“So many lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS,” Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook told the NBA. “Silence can be the biggest challenge to fighting this devastating disease. Together, we can lend our voices to help generate more awareness and knowledge to everyone.”

Teams raised additional awareness in-arena by providing fans with educational materials and donation opportunities and through in-game messaging and public service announcements, including a Greater Than AIDS public service announcement featuring NBA stars Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers, Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder and WNBA star Candice Wiggins of the Minnesota Lynx.

As part of their longstanding commitment to supporting social causes related to health and wellness, the league and its players have supported HIV/AIDS research and education in a variety of ways including public service announcements, leadership with GBCHealth, HIV/AIDS testing and grassroots activities, education workshops, and charitable donations.

For more information on NBA Cares Season of Giving, visit http://www.nba.com/cares/seasonofgiving2012.html

For more information on Greater Than, visit http://www.greaterthan.org/

The Miss Pink Pageant is an annual benefit event that celebrates the lives of breast cancer survivors. All contestants have or survived breast cancer and all proceeds go to the fight to end the deadly disease. Brace has served as a volunteer judge for the event; something he says is a pleasure to participate in.

“I had a few family members that had cancer and so I figured it would definitely be good to take on this experience and when I got there it was something else. You’re guaranteed to cry because the stories of these women are so touching and just to see their strength, it’s amazing. These women were given time frames to live and most of them make it to the pageant,” explained Brace.

“The winner from the first pageant I went to actually just passed away. When I saw her at the pageant she looked like a woman that was never told she would die. She lived her life to the fullest and really made me want to live my life and do more with it. Before, I would just do what the team would ask me to do but I have such a different outlook now. I did the Miss Pink Pageant again this year and I’ll do it until they ask me not to, and even then I’ll still be coming back just as a supporter.”

In 2011, Brace’s hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts was heavily devastated by a tornado that destroyed many homes and employment buildings, leaving many homeless and without jobs. Shortly after the tornado, Brace was on his way to a Patriots charity event in which he travelled through his old stomping grounds. The ride provided him with a first-hand look at the devastation and severity of what had happened, inspiring him to take action and restore what had been taken from so many people, including himself.

“The tornado tore down a lot of houses, a lot of people were without homes and jobs and I remember driving through there and thinking to myself that it was crazy. Seeing the wreckage of my childhood home made me tear up,” said Brace.

“My grandparents didn’t let me know, but my old house went up for auction and someone ended up buying it for dirt-cheap. If I had known I would’ve bought it just for the memories, the materials that reminded me of the past are all gone. My medals from high school and college, everything I had award-wise was in that house so I’m just going off of memories of all of that stuff,” he continued.

“I was going to a charity event for the Patriots to celebrate volunteers and we were giving out awards and I remember Mr. Kraft told me that he wanted to help out, I didn’t even have to say anything to him, he offered to help before I could even bring it up.”

By teaming up with United Way and with help from the Patriots, Brace helped raise over $200,000 in just over three weeks for the Springfield tornado victims. Ron also took part in the rebuilding process in a community initiative called Rebuild Together.

“We rebuilt a lady’s backyard who had damage from the tornadoes, so we did a lot of yard work and I learned how to build a fence during that event,” mentioned the defensive end out of Boston College. “We had a good turnout, a lot of volunteers. Just being able to help this woman was great and seeing all the people helping out was even better. It’s nice to see a town work to get better after a tornado set it back.”

Since his involvement with the tornado relief, Ron Brace has continued to visit Springfield on a regular basis to speak with the kids and provide guidance and leadership to the youth.

“I basically wanted to bring some things into the community because I know when I was there I never saw charity events or that many people reaching out. There were a few things from people within the town, but nothing really from outside the city. so it’s something to let these kids know that if I can do it, you can do it. It takes you buckling down and knowing what you have to do,” said Brace.

“What I tell the kids, especially the ones where I came from, I tell them I want them to be better than me because they can, it’s possible, you just have to put forth the effort,” he added.

Aside from taking time to speak with youth, Ron also helped out Jamie Silva at the Jamie Silva Football Camp, something Brace says he hopes to continue in the future.

“I helped out at Jamie Silva’s football camp for the first time this year and if he invites me again I’ll definitely be there because it was a blast talking with these kids and teaching them things I wish I knew. In Massachusetts there aren’t many good football coaches that really know how to teach the game, so I pass on any knowledge that I wish I had gotten at an early age to them, especially if it applies to what they’re doing. I teach them how to live healthier and the importance of gaining weight and size through proper weight lifting and diets,” he elucidated.

Throughout his road to the NFL many doubters stood in Brace’s path, but he never let them get the best of him. He used the non-believers as his motivation, and though he never had figures such as professional athletes speaking with and sharing their knowledge with him, Ron drew inspiration from his closest role model, his father.

“I had a bunch of good role models; my dad is a really good man and father because he let me know that if I wanted something I had to work for it. He helped me learn that if I wanted something I have to go get it and that’s what I teach these kids, that there are good role models out there but you have to pick the right ones.”

Ron Brace exemplifies a true, hard working, blue-collar professional. His honesty and passion for others makes the heart on his sleeve glow and the love for the people of his hometown can only be described as admirable. A player who understands the importance of opportunity and belief, his roots have kept him humble and always craving more, whether it be starting games with the Patriots or starting the young people of Springfield on the right path.

To learn more about the Miss Pink Pageant, visit http://www.misspinkpageant.com/

To learn more about the United Way, visit http://supportunitedway.org/

To learn more about what Rob Brace is doing within the community, visit his Facebook Fan Page

The Award of Excellence; which honours New Jersey-based organizations that have excelled in their PR work, was awarded to the PR team of the New York Jets football club at the 21^st annual Pyramid Awards last week – June 15, 2011 – at the Basking Ridge Country Club located in Basking Ridge, New Jersey on behalf of the Public Relations Society of America.

The New York Jets have received much recognition for their work over the past year. Sports Business Journal/Daily nominated the team for “Best Professional Sports Team” and “Best Sports Facility of the Year,” as well as receiving three Sports Emmys from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for their Hard Knocks television series.

The Jets have also stayed committed to several philanthropic causes, such as the Alliance for Lupus Research; NYC Department of Education; United Way; Hometown Huddle; Tix for Kids; Generation Jets Academy; Be a Champion; Atlantic Health Jets Women’s Organization; and many others. At the same time as supporting and partnering with these charitable organizations, the Jets have developed a new stadium which incorporates environmentally friendly materials, practices and elements.

They tackled several crises over the course of 2010, all of which were effectively managed by the New York Jets’ Public Relations department. With nearly 900,000 Facebook fans and close to 150,000 followers on Twitter; the New York Jets are the most followed NFL team on Twitter and have not gotten that far by fluke. The PR team has played a big part in making those numbers higher over the course of the year as they are constantly reaching out to their fans over social media sites and are using it to their fullest advantage when it comes to raising money and awareness for those in the community who need it the most.

To learn more about the New York Jets and all the work they do outside of football, visit http://www.newyorkjets.com/community/index.html