Shoppin’ It Up

Today was another special day because it took me back to when I was a kid. We got 30 kids from the Urban League of Broward County and The Liberty City Optimist Club and took them on a shopping spree at the Staples store in North Miami Beach. Each kid got a $300 gift card and a photo with yours truly. When I was young, I didn’t care about shoes or clothes. It was all about the cool folders and bags. I haven’t school shopped in a while, so it was cool to see all the new things and devices that kids use nowadays. We couldn’t always afford to get the stuff we needed, let alone the Trapper Keepers and neat book covers, so this gave them an opportunity to head into the school year happy and with confidence.

I even got a chance to get behind the register to ring up some of the merchandise. It didn’t go too well. I only had one other job outside of basketball, and that didn’t work out either. Good thing basketball is panning out (LOL).

I had a lot of fun. Anytime you’re with kids, you’re going to have fun. When you think of ways of helping kids, there’s no better way than promoting education. I’m not too far removed from school myself, and if I could do it over again, I would have taken school much more seriously. If that would have happened, I wouldn’t have had to sit out that one year at Marquette.

I have to give a shout out to Staples because they were great. Anytime I’m ready to do something with kids, they’re always ready. With school right around the corner, what better time or place than at Staples? I enjoy giving kids a head start and maybe that will help them get a jump start at life.