BLAZERS: Blazers Community Programs

Blazers Community Programs

In support of our commitment to fitness, education and health programs for kids, the Blazers have partnered with the following non-profits to give back to our community:

Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland

Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland serves four clubs throughout the Portland metropolitan area and more than 10,000 kids. The Club that bears the Blazers name, the first in the country to be sponsored by an NBA team, is located just minutes from the Rose Garden and hosts many of the team's community outreach projects. The Blazers Club is a safe, positive place for inner-city kids who appreciate having a place to go and feel included as a part of a family.

Blazers Community Builders Youth Corps (BCBYC)

Empowering youth to change the world one community at a time. This is the concept put to action for teenagers at all four Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland. Fashioned after the award-winning Blazers Community Builders, BCBYC mentors teens in charitable giving and hands-on community outreach - a curriculum to cultivate the next generation of philanthropists. In its first year, BCBYC groups performed community service projects, solicited and researched grant requests and donated a total of $40,000 to non-profits in all four communities served by the Youth Corps.

In acknowledgement of their efforts, the NBA named BCBYC the 1999-2000 season National TeamUp Award winner.

SMART - Start Making a Reader Today

Volunteerism, education and empowering a child - that is the powerful package known as SMART - Start Making a Reader Today. SMART is a book and reading program for children kindergarten through second grade in low-income communities. The program recruits adult volunteers to read one-on-one with students for one hour each week. Through providing Blazers employee volunteers and funding, the Blazers helped SMART reach its goal of serving 10,000 kids with 10,000 volunteers by the year 2000.

Police Activities League

PAL builds partnerships between youth, police, and the community through athletic and educational programs designed to encourage good citizenship and improve the quality of life in Portland. The Blazers are the primary sponsor of PAL's summer programs, which serve more than 5,000 kids. The partnership provides crucial youth group leadership programs and assists with the costs of transportation and supplies. Blazers employees have also provided volunteer services through the Blazers Community Builders to paint at the PAL youth center. BCB also worked alongside the youth on a maintenance project on the campus of the local college where summer sports camps were held.

Salvation Army Moore Street Center

The Moore Street Center offers education and recreation alternatives for kids, preschool to high school. The Blazers partner with the Center to sponsor the "Blazers Biddy Sports Program", a year-round athletic program for children, ages five and six, in the North and Northeast Portland community.

Self Enhancement Inc.

Self Enhancement Inc. provides 1,200 inner city Portland youth, grades 2-12 with in-school, after-school, weekend and summer education, recreation and performing arts programs. The Blazers fund an enhanced reading and comprehension program at SEI's Collins Foundation Multicultural Library. BCB helped SEI by decorating for center fundraising projects and providing resources and volunteers for events.

Albina Head Start

The Blazers have partnered with Albina Head Start, an early childhood education program serving one of Portland's most at-risk and low-income population, to implement a Spanish Immersion program for all of its students and teachers. The goal of the program is to provide a second-language curriculum to enable the preschoolers to enter elementary school being able to communicate in a second language. The Blazers also host the preschoolers at events at the Rose Garden throughout the year including Blazer games and an annual lunch held during NBA Reading Month in March. In addition, the Blazers deliver toys and clothing during the holidays and provide employees for maintenance projects at their facilities through the Blazers Community Builders program.

This past April, the Blazers received the National Head Start Association Corporate Award for our partnership with the Albina Head Start program.

Committed Partners for Youth

Committed Partners for Youth is a community-wide network of concerned adults working with families and schools in southeast Portland to help seriously at-risk 13 and 14 year-olds. The Blazers support has helped enhance the "Graduate Leadership Program," a program designed to continue the positive steps taken by the youth in their first year. Participants will continue their focus on doing the right thing, personal commitment to community involvement and the programs that are developed throughout the year.

Doernbecher Children's Hospital

Doernbecher treats thousands of kids for serious injuries and illnesses, regardless of their family's ability to pay. Through a grant partnership with the Blazers, Doernbecher Children's Hospital offers a high school volunteer program for teens throughout Portland and Oregon. Student volunteers interact with sick children in a healthcare setting and are exposed to health care careers. Perhaps one of the most satisfying parts of the program is building the self-esteem of the students through the satisfaction of providing a valuable service for Doernbecher children and families. The Blazers also continue to support Kids Making Miracles for Doernbecher, a student-driven organization that raises money for the hospital through grass roots fundraising and community service.