Adonal Foyle’s Foundation Refurbishes Public Basketball Court

Fresh off the heels of an amazing camp for the kids in SVG, Adonal Foyle and his Kerosene Lamp Foundation have partnered with the Good Tidings Foundation to host a free hoops camp for kids on a court they just refurbished.

The grand re-opening takes places this morning at 10:30 in Oakland, California (98th St. & C St.)…Foyle will be there hosting a free basketball clinic for all the kids in the neighborhood…seriously, what more can I say? Even I have trouble keeping up with all the love he’s been kicking down…thank you Adonal and congratulations for re-signing with the Orlando Magic!

Please visit Adonal’s Kerosene Lamp Foundation for more info, or join his Facebook group to be kept in the loop of love.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com

NBA Players in the Community

With half the sports fans keeping an eye on NFL training camps and the other half tracking the movements of Princess Kobe overseas, I’ve opted to check in with some of our NBA hotties to see what kind of Summer love they’ve been spreading in the communities…

First up, New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul…a player whose name has become synonymous with ‘rebuilding New Orleans,’ and for obvious reasons-he just doesn’t stop giving back to the community. As part of his continuing efforts to give back to the youth of New Orleans, Paul has committed to refurbish three local basketball courts…last week hot-stuff dedicated one of the refurbished courts-painted to replicate Wake Forest University’s- in the Seventh Ward neighborhood. After the court dedication, CP3 headed to China where he’s running camps and meeting with the local communities before he jumps back on a plane to hold his youth basketball camps for kids. More info HERE.

Next we got New York Knick Al Harrington who’s been a very busy bee…first he hit up the NBA Black Party at K-Mart in Florida where he and rapper Fat Joe are busy promoting their new basketball shoe, the Protégé…the footwear line is the result of a partnership between the NBA and Kmart. Kmart is marketing the new product as an affordable alternative to other basketball shoes…the Protégé kicks starts at $34.99…Harrington must be doing something right, because both Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins (R) and Golden State Warrior Stephen Jackson joined him on the Protégé Tour. In between gigs, Harrington writes on his Facebook page: “I’m visiting the kids at the Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth NJ.” To bring back an old Paris-ism, ‘That’s Hot.’

And of course, we can’t overlook the incredible work Adonal Foyle is doing right now. His Kerosene Lamp Foundation camps in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have seen nearly 1,000 kids in just a few days…In addition to shooting hoops, raising HIV/AIDS awareness and inspiring the kids, Crocs, SolesUnited & UNICEF sent down 3,356 pairs of Crocs to distribute to the youth and all kids received a Healthy Choice frisbee. Foyle is a remarkable example of how one man can truly change lives for the better. And seems that the media is FINALLY catching on…Adonal Foyle will be featured on CNN Heroes on Friday, August 7th, every hour between 6-11:00 AM. Set your DVR, check out his KLF Foundation or join his Facebook page…you might as well get to know him now because trust me kids, he ain’t going anywhere except in the humanitarian section of history books alongside Dikembe Mutombo.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com

Adonal Foyle To Host Camps In St. Vincent & The Grenadines

One of the hardest working guys in the NBA is Adonal Foyle…aside from his on-court contributions, this Magic player is truly “hands-on” in off-court activity for his Kerosene Lamp Foundation. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see or hear about some of the amazing things he’s been doing for kids. He’s one of the truly dedicated athletes who doesn’t just talk-the-talk, but is a man who continually applies compassion and determination in efforts to ease the suffering of some…this to me is the backbone of giving back, it’s relatively easy to ‘inspire hope’ but to ‘maintain hope’ is much harder and I do believe that Foyle is an instrument of maintaining hope for many children.

Foyle and the Kerosene Lamp Foundation (KLF) will host their annual Athletics & Academics Camps from July 27 to August 5, 2009 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. Foyle has recruited Courtney Lee of the New Jersey Nets, veteran Bo Outlaw, and coach Clifford Ray of the Boston Celtics, to headline the camps along with him.

“Our Athletics and Academics Camps are an essential part to KLF’s mission of giving back to the underserved children in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” said Adonal Foyle. “I grew up as one of these disadvantaged children who face a wide array of challenges every single day. It is now our hope that these basketball camps will help the local children by stressing the importance of education and health, and building their self-confidence.”

The camps combine basketball fundamentals with educational messages to create a unique and fun-filled experience for kids aged 7 to 17… the camps offer up to eight learning stations covering a range of topics from basic basketball skills to the importance of education, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, nutrition, and the basic tenets of sports psychology…to date, KLF has held ten camps in St. Vincent & the Grenadines over three summers, reaching more than 1200 children…but this year, ‘hope’ is on the upswing and KLF is expecting more than 1,000 happy campers this summer alone….(cue music) What a man, what a man, what a mighty-mighty-fine man.

In case you don’t know…Adonal Foyle is an NBA veteran who just finished his 12th season with the Eastern Conference Champions Orlando Magic…stud is a graduate of Colgate University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude…during the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, Adonal was honored by the NBA Players Association with the Community Contribution Award for his outstanding work in communities both in the U.S. and abroad…throughout his 12 years in the NBA, Adonal has made a significant effort to give back to his community, whether it be inspiring youth to excel in education or take an interest in politics, or passing on his knowledge of the sport of basketball…Kerosene Lamp Foundation is Adonal’s second non-profit organization, the first being Democracy Matters, a non-partisan campus-based project working to get big money out of politics and people in.

For more information, please visit www.KeroseneLampFoundation.org.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com

Charity Madness: Adonal Foyle Lights Way for Kids

Now, some of you may be wondering why I chose to spotlight Adonal Foyle and his charity work. Several reasons…one, the beast received a Community Contribution award from the NBA Players Association during All Star Weekend.  Foyle was honored along with sexy Sun Steve Nash and Dwayne Wade. Obviously, all things Steve Nash are of great interest to me…while on the other end of the spectrum is D-Wade who has sorely disappointed me based on his questionable off-court behavior I’ve been hearing about…anyway, Lakers hottie Derek Fisher, who is also President of the NBPA, presented the award to Adonal Foyle and commended him on his 11 and a half years of making a difference in the NBA as well as in the community…the modest baller said that ‘he does not work in the community for public acknowledgement, but rather for the opportunity to pass on some of his own good fortune’…

This month, the NBA beast and his Kerosene Lamp Foundation (KLF) are running a ‘March $10K Campaign’ in efforts to raise money for camps in St. Vincent and The Grenadines. As Adonal prepares to celebrate his 34th birthday on March 9, he’s asking us all to pitch in as little as ten bucks to help thousands of kids enjoy hoops in his hometown. “I launched the Athletics & Academics Camps as an avenue through which the Kerosene Lamp Foundation could, in some small way, encourage a child to strive for success in the classroom and beyond,” said Foyle. “St. Vincent & The Grenadines is a tiny nation, one that is dependent on the potential of the next generation to make it thrive. With these camps, I use basketball to connect with the kids to promote a healthy lifestyle and stress their need to take an active role in their education.”

The March $10K Campaign gives fans the option of purchasing a $10 raffle ticket for a chance to win a ton of schwag including autographed goodies from the big guy well as from Dwight Hot-Hot Howard…you can also help by bidding on online auction items or by donating gifts such as basketballs or books to the camp. Also, be sure to check out the “D.C. KLF Fundraiser” on March 13th at the Wizards/Magic NBA game. Just a minimum donation of $10 per person will help KLF reach the goal of $10,000…check it all out here www.KeroseneLampFoundation.org and help support one of the NBA’s mighty-mighty-good men put smiles on the faces of kids..

Due to Foyle’s trade from Orlando to Memphis last month, JJ Redick has agreed to step up and take AF’s place at the upcoming Boston & DC fundraisers. Also, as a result of the trade, the KLF fundraisers in New York City, Orlando & Atlanta have been canceled.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com

Adonal Foyle Putting His NBA Skills to Good Use
As I continue to snoop around the private lives of celebrities and athletes, I’m finding quite a few mighty-mighty good men who are sorely lacking in the publicity department. Case in point: Adonal Foyle. In 2006, he started the Kerosene Lamp Foundation to help ‘empower children in the Eastern Caribbean (and US) and give them the right tools to navigate life’s challenges.’

As a child, the Magic Baller grew up in the tiny island of Canouan, where he was raised by his grandmother and had to use a kerosene lamp for light while doing homework. After coming to the States, he lit up the Golden State Warriors (for ten seasons), and received numerous community service awards while remaining historically relevant to the team. (He is also the only player in Warriors history to have over 3,000 career blocks and over 1,000 career blocked shots.)

Now with the Magic, the baller and his foundation continue to give back Love and host numerous off-season pow-wows…Foyle returns home every year to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to hold his Athletics & Academics Island Camps (A & A Camps). To date, they’ve held 12 free basketball camps, which benefited over 1000 kids…In addition to teaching the kids how to shoot hoops- Foyle addressed such issues as healthy eating, HIV/AIDS prevention, and the importance of education.

His generosity is further enhanced by the fact that in 2001, he founded Democracy Matters, a non-partisan organization that gives students a voice in issues of democracy. DM is active on over 50 college campuses nationwide-encouraging hundreds of students to focus on issues of campaign finance reform…and as with most of the world, he celebrated the fact that Hot Stuff is our new President. Foyle’s Kerosene Lamp Foundation partnered up with Majella’s on the beach on Canouan Island and hosted 200 or so plus kids for a special Inauguration viewing party.

On behalf of all the baller loving fans who can only cheer for those doing good-thank you Adonal Foyle-we see you now.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com