James Blake Given Humanitarian Award

We all enjoyed watching James Blake bathe in a tub of Evian water and bounce that beautiful booty around the tennis court, but now I think its time to give him a little love for his off-court endeavors.

Prior to the Sony Open in Florida, the ATP handed out their awards and James Blake rightfully won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award for his charitable efforts.

Last summer, Blake created the Thomas Blake Sr. Memorial Research Fund at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in memory of his father. The Blake Research Fund invests money in leading-edge science in order to ‘speed up the most promising work and shorten the time it takes to turn laboratory discoveries into better treatments for patients’. 100% of every dollar donated to the Fund goes directly to cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.

This also marks the 5th year of Blake’s J-Block program…fans purchase J-Block merchandise and 100% of the gross proceeds are donated to charity. To date, more than $100,000 has been raised through J-Block merchandise sales…kinda makes you feel good about buying a T-shirt don’t it?

Anthem LIVE! is another one of Blake’s charity endeavors. The annual charity tennis exhibition, which is hosted by hot stuff himself, also supports cancer research programs including the Blake Research Fund. And despite his busy schedule, Blake always finds time to help to raise funds for the Harlem Junior Tennis Program and hosts the organization’s annual fundraising event each year. No surprise there - as Blake decided to pursue a career in tennis after listening to Arthur Ashe speak at an event for the Harlem Junior Tennis Program.

All this…and I didn’t even have to mention the fact that James Blake overcame a broken back, partial paralysis and blurred vision while maintaining his form on the court. For more on that, you can read his book, ‘Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life’ or visit James Blake Tennis, for more info on how you can donate to the Fund, buy a cool T and support this truly fine beast on his quest to better this world.

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