2005: $44K Donation to Tsunami Relief Fund
June 24, 2008
January 10, 2005 — SFX BASKETBALL SHOOT-A-THON RAISES $300,000 FOR
TSUNAMI AND EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS… Shoot-a-Thon Featuring Jalen Rose,
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Tracy McGrady, Mike Miller, Jermaine O’Neal,
and Bobby Sura Results in $212,000 for UNICEF; Additional SFX Athletes
and Agents Contribute to bring total to $300,000.
SFX Sports Agency announced today that it will contribute $300,000 to
UNICEF’s South Asia Emergency Relief Efforts. The SFX basketball stars
joined together for a Shoot-a-Thon where $1,000 was donated for every
point they scored in a game last week. In addition to donating money,
the athletes hoped to encourage their fans and the public to do
whatever they could to help out the 1.5 million children affected by
the disaster.
"This act of giving by these generous players will encourage more
public support and result in more children being helped," said Charles
J. Lyons, president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "UNICEF is focused on
keeping the smallest survivors of the tsunamis alive, and we are
grateful to these players for their contributions and continued
support."
"I think when more players find out about it, they’ll get involved,"
said Rose. "Sometimes you hear a lot of horror stories about relief
funds not getting to designated party, but in this case UNICEF will
make certain that won’t happen."
Jalen Rose, who scored 21 points, chose to use his career high point total for a game, 44, and will donate $44,000 to UNICEF.
Rose added, "The situation in South Asia is devastating and I feel for
the children who are homeless, injured, and sick. I hope the funds
raised by the Shoot-a-Thon will help UNICEF continue to do their good
work and encourage others to give whatever they can to help the victims
of this terrible disaster."
Jermaine O’Neal, who scored 32 points in his Shoot-a-Thon game, opted
to use his career-high 55 point total from earlier in the week and will
donate $55,000 to UNICEF. SFX CEO Arn Tellem matched O’Neal’s donation
with a $55,000 contribution of his own.
In Los Angles, Kobe Bryant raised $27,000 and the Lakers will match his
donation. Tracy McGrady scored 26 points and will donate $30,000.
Teammate Bobby Sura will donate $20,000 after scoring 20 points against
the Lakers. Pau Gasol (20 points) and Mike Miller (16 points) will
donate $20,000 and $16,000 respectively.
In addition to the players participating in the Shoot-a-Thon, the
following SFX basketball stars joined the company’s efforts to raise
money for UNICEF: Kwame Brown, Mike Dunleavy, Joe Johnson, Dahntay
Jones, Nenad Krstic, Corey Maggette, Vladimir Radmanovich, Quentin
Richardson, Ha Seung-Jin, Etan Thomas, and Earl Watson.
The four relief priorities that UNICEF said all players in the relief effort should emphasize include:
First, the relief effort must focus on keeping children alive. This
means clean water, adequate sanitation, basic nutrition, and routine
medical care. These are basics that cannot be over emphasized. Keeping
children who survived the floods alive and healthy is UNICEF’s
priority.
Second, caring for separated children. UNICEF’s relief plans give high
priority to finding children who’ve lost their families, identifying
them, and reuniting them with their extended families and communities.
UNICEF is involved in efforts to register and care for unaccompanied
children in every country.
Third, UNICEF’s efforts must ensure that children are protected from
exploitation. In tumultuous environments like those in the tsunami zone
– where families are broken apart, incomes are lost, and hope is in
short supply – children are more vulnerable to abuses.
Fourth, UNICEF said the relief efforts must help children cope with
their trauma by getting them back in school as quickly as possible and
train adults who interact with children – such as teachers and health
workers – to spot the signs of severe trauma. Schools have been damaged
and destroyed in every tsunami country, with ongoing assessments to
survey where and when learning can be re-established. "Being in a
learning environment gives children something positive to focus on, and
enables the adults around them to go about the business of rebuilding
with greater confidence.
About UNICEF
Founded in 1946, UNICEF helps save, protect and improve the lives of
children around the world through immunization, education, health care,
nutrition, clean water, and sanitation. UNICEF is non-partisan and its
cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most
disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have
priority. To make a donation to UNICEF’s South Asia Emergency Relief
Efforts, please call 1-800-4UNICEF or go to: UNICEF
