Wade’s World! Excellent!

Fri., Aug 10 – Today, I wrapped up a successful “A Week of Wade’s World in South Florida” trip with a surprise visit to the Miami Springs Recreation Pool Center, where the HEAT were teaching students the importance of learning how to swim. My son, Zaire, is learning how to swim now, so I felt it would be a good idea to swing by to show support for our Learn to Swim water safety campaign. While I was at the pool, I got a chance to meet one of my teammates, Daequan Cook, for the first time. He’s much taller than I anticipated. They have him listed at 6-foot-4 (my height), but he was slightly taller than me with flip-flops. He was a cool guy and I look forward to winning a lot of games with him this season.

Afterwards, I headed over to the Overtown Youth Center to talk to some more kids about the importance of reading. What a lot of people don’t know about me is that I love a good book; I love a good story. I have a sensitive side to me. I’m always down to read a love story or romantic comedy. And during the season when my time is limited, I try pick up a book or magazine when I’m on the plane or before I go to bed.

Looking back at this week, I’m extremely proud of how it went. Anytime you reach out to kids and tell them the importance of what you’re doing and at the same time have fun, they’re always going to learn something. You can’t go wrong spending a week with kids because you influence them just by your presence.

A reporter asked me today if I looked at myself as a teacher because at every event I had something new to share. It caught me off guard a little because I never thought of myself as a teacher. I just think I’m a person who has an opportunity to let his voice be heard and help people. Right now, people want to listen to what I have to say. Why not use it to make a difference, especially with kids.

When you get something covered by the media, you don’t do it for praise, but you do it because you want people to get behind your efforts. No one can do it on their own, so you have to show people what you’re trying to do. Maybe they’d want to join your cause. I’ve said this before: kids are our future. If you want to live in a better place, start with our youth – give them an opportunity to better themselves, especially in the less fortunate areas. I was a kid not too long ago, and I understand what they’re going through. I want to give them a vision and let them know that whatever they want to achieve in life, they can do it. Anything’s possible if they continue on the right path.

I’m in the early stages of my charitable work, but I’m only going to get bigger and better each year. I’m just beginning to touch the lives of kids, but I’m going to touch many more lives for years to come.

Shoppin’ It Up

Thu., Aug. 9 – 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 enjoy giving kids a head start and maybe that will help them get a jump start at life.

A Wish Fulfilled

Wed., Aug. 8 – Today was a good day. I felt good and, obviously, I was looking good. This morning, I got a call letting me know that I was on Esquire’s 2007 Best Dressed List. Next year, I’m going for the No. 1 spot (LOL).

But my day took a turn from good to great after I spent the afternoon with five kids through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Heading into these events, you never know what the mood’s going to be, but I always know they’re going to leave with a smile on their face. That’s my thing, I want to uplift their spirits. I want to show them that there’s much more in this world that they have to do. Following lunch, we played one-on-one and H-O-R-S-E, and then I got a chance to have a nice conversation with each of them. When I was their age, I had my sports heroes. I would have loved to have had a chance to play one-on-one or have a personal conversation with MJ. So after we finished shooting around, I pulled each one of them to the side to share some of my experiences and answer some of their questions. I shared my story about me being a young kid with big, big dreams. Nobody thought I would make it to where I am today. I’m here because I believed in myself, but I had a lot of help along the way.

Things got a little emotional for me when they presented me with a basketball signed by each of the Make-A-Wish kids. It was totally unexpected. I never expect anything, so when someone has enough in their heart to give you something, that’s what makes it special. That means a lot and it really touched my heart. The ball is going up in my house. It’s more than a basketball. It’s saying to me that they care about me just as much as I care about them.

The Topp Dog at Camp

Mon., Aug 6 – This week, I’m doing what I love to do and that’s going out in the community and reaching out to kids from many different walks of life. Today is the first day of “A Week of Wade’s World in South Florida,” and I’m spending it with the kids at the Topps Basketball Camp. I love working with a room full of kids. That’s one of my dearest passions because they’re at an age where you can have a real impact on them. Today, I spoke with the kids about working hard to achieve their dreams. They sat there awaiting my every word; looking to take away something they could use. Hopefully, I said something that made a difference. Kids are like writing a book. You can add words to their lives that can shape the outcome of their story – their lives.

There was almost 400 kids at the camp which is a great turnout for the first year of the Topps camp. We were happy to provide 50 deserving kids with scholarships for the camp through a partnership with the Wade’s World Foundation and the Urban League of Broward County.

It’s going to be a very busy week for me, but I’m looking forward to it. Wednesday, I’m hosting a Make-A-Wish Foundation luncheon, then it’s a Back-to-School Shopping Spree on Thursday, then we finish the week on Friday with a Drop Everything and Read event. I’m reaching out to different kids with different visions. I'm just trying to say or do something that can spark them to get wherever they want to be in life.