“Round 5” of Dunkin 4 Donations was held December 21 at
Scott High School’s Ben E. Williams Field House. Founded
under the brand, Hands Over Hearts, the basketball charity
event is held each year to raise money and collect toys for
local shelters and less fortunate and needy families.
The purpose is also to show central-city youths positive
role models and positive alternatives. Ross says, “What
we're doing is showing the community what can happen when we
come together. Instead of protesting and tearing up our own
neighborhoods, let’s come together and build up our own
people.”
Former gang members Devonne Fagan, current D4D board member
and owner of Pinnacle Autobody, and Dedra Brown helped
organize the event. Brown, Founder of David Davis Youth
Center, an after school program with a focus on intervention
and prevention on gangs and bullying, lost her brother to
gang violence and says she partnered with Ross and Haynes
because her passion is to help children avoid the life she
lived.
Former gang leader Willie Knighten, Facilitator and case
manager for The Ridge Project, an organization that
specializes in healthy families, responsible fatherhood and
healthy marriage along with men of TYRO, an accountability
community for ex-offenders, says they were honored to be a
part of the event when approached by organizers and donated
over $200 in toys to help less fortunate children.
The event started with a
children’s basketball game between the Count Change Celtics
and Team Early Bird before the featured D4D games.
Performances by the Scott High school dance team, The
Imagine Clay Drill and Drumline, aspiring rapper Yung Jo Jo
and The Flintstone Kids entertained the crowd of over 500
between games. |