During this most special time of year, the Cleveland Cavaliers teamed up with a generous northeast Ohio community and supportive corporate partners to help touch the lives of more than 1,000 children and families. Throughout the month of December, the Wine & Gold delivered high-fives, toys, stories and surprises that brought smiles to children’s faces and warmed the hearts of everyone involved through a number of community programs.
“We’re very proud to have an opportunity to make a positive impact in the lives of the children and families in the community, especially during this special time of year,” said Colleen Garrity, Cavaliers Vice President of Community Relations and Player Programs. “It means the world to our coaches and players to be a part of such special moments, and we are very thankful for the incredible support from the community and our partners for making each of these events a success.”
Cleveland Clinic Children’s Visit - December 2nd - VIEW PHOTOS
Decking the halls with boughs of jolly, on Monday, December 2nd, the ENTIRE Cavaliers roster and coaching staff took a timeout from the 2013-14 season to visit Cleveland Clinic Children’s for their annual hospital visit.
Donning festive Santa hats and pulling little red wagons filled with toys, the players traveled from room to room, not only delivering season’s greetings to the patients, but bearing gifts! Each child was presented with a Cavs drawstring bag packed with goodies, including a PlayMG unit (handheld entertainment gaming system) generously donated by PlayMG.
Watch Video: Cavs Visit Cleveland Clinic Children's
Cavs and Monsters Toy Drive, presented by Walgreens - December 16th - VIEW PHOTOS
As part of the Cavaliers’ and Monsters’ 2013 Toy Drive presented by Walgreens, fans dropped off hundreds of new toys at collection bins located at every entrance of Quicken Loans Arena, as well as at participating Walgreens locations throughout Northeast Ohio. Toys were also collected for the fourth consecutive year by non-profit agency Teen Leadership Corp. Additionally, PlayMG generously donated PlayMG units (handheld entertainment gaming system) to this year’s Toy Drive. More than 700 toys were collected this season!
Then on Monday, December 16th, the Cavs’ Earl Clark, Carrick Felix, Sergey Karasev, Henry Sims, Anderson Varejao and Matthew Dellavedova packed up their sleighs with toys to make special deliveries to underserved children at East End Neighborhood House, University Settlement and Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center. In addition to a new, wrapped toy, the Wine & Gold reversed the roles of Santa and delivered cookies and milk to each good girl and boy! Toys were also donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lorain County, Catholic Charities and Project ACT.
Tristan Unwraps a Holiday Surprise! – December 19th - VIEW PHOTOS
Keeping warm at Cleveland Clinic Courts this holiday season, the Cavs’ Tristan Thompson had his Kindle Fire out to read a special holiday book that talks about the different holidays celebrated this time of year. Thompson, along with Ms. Wang’s fourth grade class from the Alfred A. Benesch school, read “Horrible Harry and the Holidaze” by Suzy Kline.
Then, as he turned the final page on the story, Tristan surprised the students with a holiday gift - THEIR VERY OWN KINDLE FIRE HD! Each student also received a $25 Amazon gift card, courtesy of Best Buy, so they could start their own e-book collection.
This special holiday event was part of the Cavaliers’ Read to Achieve program presented by Time Warner Cable and in association with Castaway Bay and Cuyahoga Community College.
Watch Video: Read to Achieve
Cavs Focus on Body and Soul with “Snow-Ga” - December 19th - VIEW PHOTOS
As part of the Cavaliers’ Fit As A Pro program presented by Medical Mutual and Giant Eagle, the Cavaliers’ Tyler Zeller and Derek Millender invited students from Collinwood Village Academy to join them for a special “snow-ga” yoga session on Thursday, December 19th! Hosted by Inner Bliss yoga instructor Tammy Lyons, Zeller and Millender, along with mascots Moondog and Sir C.C., moved their way through a workout while pausing to breathe and connect.
Following the session, the students then huddled up to enjoy “reindeer snacks” (granola) and “snowman smoothies” (banana smoothies) while learning all about healthy eating during the holidays.
About Walgreens
As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2013 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to be the first choice for health and daily living for everyone in America, and beyond. Each day, Walgreens provides more than 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,131 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 750 locations throughout the country.
About Fit As A Pro
The Cleveland Cavaliers Fit as a Pro program, presented by Medical Mutual and Giant Eagle, is a year-round initiative developed by the Cleveland Cavaliers to encourage physical fitness and well-balanced nutrition among children. The program is open to all elementary and middle school students, grades K-8, in Cuyahoga, Erie, Lorain, Summit, Medina, Portage, Geauga and Lake Counties.
About Read to Achieve
Read to Achieve, presented by Time Warner Cable and in association with Castaway Bay and Cuyahoga Community College, is a year-round campaign designed to help young people develop a life-long love for reading and encourage adults to read regularly with children. The program reaches thousands of elementary, middle and high school students in Northeast Ohio through reading time-outs, book drives and donations and the construction of Reading & Learning Centers.