Knicks to Honor Community Mentor with "City Spirit Award"
NEW YORK, April 9, 2010 – The New York Knickerbockers have announced that Earl Mitchell of Roosevelt, NY, is the recipient of the Sweetwater Clifton "City Spirit" Award for the month of April, for providing mentoring and educational opportunities to at-risk youth throughout New York City. The award, named in honor of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, the first African-American to play for the Knicks, recognizes individuals who have made a significant difference in the lives of others. Each month, a winner is chosen by members of the Knicks front office staff and honored at center court during a Knicks game with a $2,000 donation in his or her name made out to a charity of their choice.
Mitchell is the executive director and founder of Educating Minds For A Better Tomorrow, an organization dedicated to empower youth with the necessary tools to succeed in the future. He offers services to at-risk youth who are struggling with grades, involved in gang life, lack motivation to go to college and are dealing with other negative issues. Mitchell is also the Founder of the Success Through Sacrifice Scholarship Fund. This scholarship is awarded to students who graduated on time from high school despite adverse circumstances. He is also an eighth grade Social Studies teacher, mentor and basketball coach at Baldwin Public Schools, in Nassau County.
Sunday, when the Knicks host the Miami Heat, Earl Mitchell will accept the City Spirit Award at Madison Square Garden. He will donate the award money to “Hoops Challenge,” a Long Island basketball organization that serves hundreds of at-risk youth, as they are taught basketball and life skills. At “Hoop Challenge,” students are challenged to resist the lure of drugs and alcohol and encouraged to pursue their education, purpose and dreams.
Mitchell is the executive director and founder of Educating Minds For A Better Tomorrow, an organization dedicated to empower youth with the necessary tools to succeed in the future. He offers services to at-risk youth who are struggling with grades, involved in gang life, lack motivation to go to college and are dealing with other negative issues. Mitchell is also the Founder of the Success Through Sacrifice Scholarship Fund. This scholarship is awarded to students who graduated on time from high school despite adverse circumstances. He is also an eighth grade Social Studies teacher, mentor and basketball coach at Baldwin Public Schools, in Nassau County.
Sunday, when the Knicks host the Miami Heat, Earl Mitchell will accept the City Spirit Award at Madison Square Garden. He will donate the award money to “Hoops Challenge,” a Long Island basketball organization that serves hundreds of at-risk youth, as they are taught basketball and life skills. At “Hoop Challenge,” students are challenged to resist the lure of drugs and alcohol and encouraged to pursue their education, purpose and dreams.
