Thanksgiving Celebration | 11/24/2008

Thanksgiving Celebration

On Monday night the Lakers family kicked-off their "A Season of Giving", presented by East West Bank, by serving a traditional Thanksgiving meal to 200 members of the Boys and Girls Club of Venice. Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, Sun Yue and D-Fenders Brandon Heath, Joe Crawford, and Dwayne Mitchell and all 21 Lakers Girls visited the club providing food and smiles to all in attendance.

The festivities opened with a greeting from Pau, who wished everyone a happy holiday season. Next, the guests were treated to musical performances from club members. The main event, of course, was the food! Yet again, Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que provided a delicious spread of turkey, ham, green salad, mashed potatoes (regular and sweet), stuffing and pumpkin pie. The Lakers, D-Fenders, and Lakers Girls served the food to the Boys and Girls Club members as they came down the buffet line. Chris Mihm was the crowd’s MVP for serving generous portions of sweet potatoes!

While the club members ate, they were visited by Lakers Girls who mingled throughout the room signing autographed pictures. All guests were also eligible for a raffle. 5 lucky winners received a set of 4 tickets to Sunday’s Lakers v. Toronto Raptors game. The winners, like all who attend Sunday’s game, will also receive admission to the D-Fenders v. Reno Bighorns. Regardless of their raffle luck, all guests went home with prizes. Each guest received a special holiday bag, filled with Lakers goodies, school supplies and presents from East West Bank.

The Lakers would like to thank East West Bank and all of the volunteers from the Boys and Girls Club of Venice for their hospitality. Since 2000, the Lakers organization has been spreading holiday cheer through our "A Season of Giving" campaign to assist thousands of children, adults and those less fortunate in our community. Past events include Thanksgiving meal servings, Thanksgiving groceries giveaways, holiday fishing trips for homeless children, holiday parties for kids, hospital visits and "Wish Night with the Lakers" at a Lakers home game. Lakers employees have also adopted local children and soldiers during the holidays and purchased gifts to grant their holiday wishes.