Jalen Nominated for Prestigious National Community Service Award
November 10, 2009
 August 4, 2009 — ESPN NBA analyst and 13- year NBA veteran Jalen Rose has been nominated for the national Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Athlete, presented by All Stars Helping Kids, a national nonprofit founded by NFL Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott. Fans can “get in the game” and help Jalen win by voting on the All Stars Helping Kids website (www.allstarshelpingkids.org) and via text message beginning in August and running through November 15th.Jalen joins an impressive array of nominees, including Steve Nash, Mia Hamm and Venus Williams. Past winners of the Jefferson Award include Oprah Winfrey, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, and Bill & Melinda Gates.A graduate of the University of Maryland University College with a Bachelor of Science in Management Studies, Jalen considers promoting education a crucial part of community service. He started the Jalen Rose Foundation in 2000, which has established an endowed scholarship at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, and also awards five annual $10,000 scholarships to help Detroit area youth attend college. Through his foundation efforts, he has also contributed to a variety of other causes, including providing aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Southeast Asia as well as donating $100,000 to the development of a children’s hospital in the Congo.In addition to honoring philanthropic athletes, All Stars Helping Kids and the Jefferson Awards are encouraging fans to “get in the game” by: Voting online for Jalen at http://www.allstarshelpingkids.org/teammates/jalenrose.html Voting via text message for Jalen (text STAR34 to 55333) *standard rates apply Voting early and often and telling your friends to vote Following Jalen’s lead and volunteering in their community Nominating a local hero for a regional Jefferson Award for Public ServiceThe Jalen Rose Foundation was established by ESPN Analyst/13-year NBA Veteran Jalen Rose to create life-changing opportunities for underserved youth through the development of unique programs and the distribution of grants to qualified nonprofit organizations. Grants focus on sports and education and are distributed in Jalen’s hometown of Detroit as well as other communities in need. Since its inception in 2000, The Jalen Rose Foundation has distributed more than $1 million in charitable donations.The Jefferson Awards for Outstanding Public Service by an Athlete is a prestigious national recognition system honoring community and public service in America. The Jefferson Awards were established in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr. and Sam Beard to establish a Nobel Prize for public service. Today, their primary purpose is to serve as a “Call to Action for Volunteers” in local communities. All Stars Helping Kids was founded by NFL Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott in 1989 with the goal of promoting a safe, healthy, rigorous learning environment for disadvantaged kids in low-income communities. All Stars achieves this mission by pooling the resources of athletes, corporations and individuals to support high-performing academic and physical enrichment programs. |
