Bobcats Rise To The Occasion At My Hero Gala
By Matt Rochinski
bobcats.com

My Hero Gala Gallery

When Raymond Felton and Sean May walked into Presbyterian Hospital on June 29, 2005, less than 24 hours after being drafted, Presbyterian Healthcare President & Chief Executive Officer Carl Armato knew something good was happening.

It wasn’t just that the two newest Charlotte Bobcats (at that time) held their post-draft press conference at the hospital, but it was that following the press conference, they took time out of their day and stopped by to visit some kids at the children’s hospital. It was just one of many hospital visits the Bobcats have made to Presbyterian Hemby Children’s Hospital the past four years, with more sure to come.

But the Bobcats partnership with Presbyterian Hospital hasn’t stopped there.

On February 15, 2006, the Bobcats partnered with Presbyterian Hospital to recruit 36 fourth grade students for a new leadership development program called “Fit for Motion,” that taught participants how to be healthy leaders through an eight-week health and wellness education workshop hosted at the Presbyterian Center for Preventive Cardiology.”

“As you think about our partnership over the years, the players started by coming to the hospital to visit sick children, and then we began to reach into the community by trying to help kids combat childhood obesity,” Armato said. “Now, we’re ready to team up and go even further out into the community and touch more children in a very positive way.”

The partnership continued to evolve on August 1 of this year when the Bobcats Youth Foundation and Presbyterian Hospital announced their joint commitment to the Presbyterian Hospital Community Care Cruiser – a 40-foot mobile clinic providing primary and preventative medical care to youth who can not afford it.

"This is a community that comes together to help people, and the Bobcats are part of that responsibility."
-- Bobcats Majority Owner Bob Johnson

The cruiser was unveiled at Saturday’s My Hero Gala in an evening full of celebration – for the unveiling of the cruiser, for the strong partnership between the Bobcats and Presbyterian Hospital, for the continued support of other sponsors (including Goodrich Corporation, who was the title sponsor of the event), and for a select few of individual heroes that were honored on this evening.

“When you look at the Charlotte Bobcats, they do wonderful things on the court, but it’s really impressive to see what they do off the court and in the community,” Armato said. “For the Bobcats to be a partner with us at Presbyterian Hospital, we’re absolutely excited about that. Our shared commitment to taking care of children has been there since the beginning of the partnership and tonight our outreach just stretches out even further.”

Through the natural progression of the partnership, both the Bobcats and Presbyterian Hospital have elevated their commitment in the community from year-to-year, month-to-month and day-to-day.

“We’re trying to take that next step everyday,” Bobcats President & Chief Operating Officer Fred Whitfield said. “We have to be out in the community doing great things because we want to become a part of the core of this community and the fabric of this community – the only way we can do that is to make people feel good about these extremely positive things that we’re trying to do. Our focus is on youth – and obviously with the Community Care Cruiser, a lot of youths will be touched by this – but we’re just starting to scratch the surface on the things that we want to do to help make Charlotte a better place to live.

“We have to earn our way in this community – nobody is just going to give it to us or just come watch us play basketball because we play games. Unless they feel emotionally attached to us, they are not going to support us, so our way of trying to attach to the community is doing great, positive things.”

Of all their events and philanthropic efforts, none to date are as large as the Bobcats commitment to the Community Care Cruiser. The Bobcats Youth Foundation has committed $500,000 over a five-year period to help bring this program to life and will have more to give. Fundraisers like the My Hero Gala will also help to contribute to this great cause.

“The Bobcats are an integral part of this community as a team and as a business, and one thing that any good business should do is to give back to the community and help those who are less fortunate,” Bobcats Majority Owner Bob Johnson said. “By having this fundraiser, we hope to raise money to help support children in need – children at risk and whose families might not be able to provide them with the support they should be able to have.

“Part of raising money is building support in a community for what you do. The fact that this is our largest fundraiser shows that the community is behind the Bobcats and what we are trying to do, whether it is the Charlotte Jumper Classic that we put on as a family event to raise money, the program we’re doing tonight, the Community Care Cruiser – all of those things, when you put them all together, are what we believe we should do in the community.”

And the Bobcats know that if they continue to reach out and make an impact throughout the city of Charlotte, their identity will only get stronger as a organization truly dedicated to the community around it.

“I think part of what we have tried so hard as an organization to do is to be relevant,” Senior Vice President of Community Relations & Executive Director of the Charlotte Jumper Classic Larita Barber said. “The Community Care Cruiser is something that we can point to when we talk about what we stand for and what we represent as an organization. When you see the cruiser traveling around to different areas of Charlotte, you’ll be able to see evidence that the Charlotte Bobcats organization is an organization that is committed to children, their success and their well being.”

And as Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said, it means so much more when you are the one taking the initiative and doing the reaching rather than waiting to be reached out to.

“That’s what it’s all about – it’s not about asking the people to come to you,” he said. “This cruiser is going to go out into the community and give services that are desperately needed. There is an underclass in every city that is kind of hidden, and this is reaching out to that underclass and provided much-needed medical care. Both groups will also be learning more about the community, while the community learns more about them, and you could not ask for more.”

In all, the My Hero Gala will go down as a tremendous success for the Bobcats Youth Foundation and Presbyterian Hospital, with great partners, sponsors, players, fans and heroes – Bobcats Matt Carroll and Emeka Okafor, as well as Dr. Mark Mogul of Presbyterian were honored as the night’s three heroes – all coming together in support of what will truly be a great cause.

“This was as big as it gets,” Bobcats Head Coach Sam Vincent said. “This was one of our own, special, team-organized events that gave us the chance to touch the community. It was for a great cause, and all of our players and staff were involved, so we really enjoyed it. We realize that basketball and entertainment are why we are here, but we also realize that being a part of this community and finding ways to touch it in special ways is going to be critical to our success.”