NEW YORK, Nov. 14 – Detroit Pistons guard Jerry Stackhouse has been selected to receive the NBA Community Assist Award for his community outreach during the month of October. Stackhouse has been active in the community since joining the league in 1995. Since coming to the Pistons in 1998 he has been extremely influential in the local community as evidenced by his activities throughout the month of October.

Stackhouse is captain of the Pistons' Read to Achieve All-Star Team. Jonathan Daniel/NBAE/Getty Images

Stackhouse proved that he was a leader off-the-court reaching out to teammates, celebrities and local dignitaries to take part in a reading event for more than 200 Detroit area school children. Stackhouse, captain of the Pistons’ Read to Achieve All-Star Team, worked closely with the children by reading stories and helping them write and illustrate stories of their own. He told the children the importance reading has played in his life and how reading can open the doors for them to accomplish their own dreams and goals.

During the month of October, Stackhouse also hosted 13 special needs children from the Grand Rapids area at a preseason game against the Washington Wizards. As a part of his “Stack’s House” initiative, he welcomed the children to the game by hosting a private pre-game reception for them, where he spoke with them and took photos with each child. Stackhouse purchases 25 tickets for each of the Pistons home games and distributes them to Detroit area community groups so that deserving children and individuals, who may not otherwise have the means, can enjoy the excitement of a Pistons’ game.

"Jerry Stackhouse has been a fixture in the community since coming to Detroit," said Joe Dumars, Pistons President of Basketball Operations. "He has truly embraced the people in this area through his work with diabetes, the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, the Michigan Department of Community Health and the NBA's Read To Achieve Program. We are lucky to not only have an All-Star caliber player on the court, but a person that genuinely cares about the people in our community."

Earlier this year, Stackhouse hosted his First Annual Jerry Stackhouse Wheelchair Basketball Game for the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan. Stackhouse gathered friends from the court and the press box to build the teams and teammates to help raise $35,000 for the remodeling of the Detroit Medical Center. He also joined the Backstreet Boys in a chorus of “God Bless America” live on the Detroit Clear Channel Radiothon to help raise money for the victims of the attacks against America on September 11th. The event raised more than $500,000 in pledges. He also serves as a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.

“On the court or off, Jerry Stackhouse gives the children of Michigan a role model to look up to,” said Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm. “For every ounce of energy he expends reaching to achieve excellence in his game, he expends an equal amount reaching out to achieve excellence for this community, too. I'm proud to share the bench with him on the Detroit Pistons' All-Star Reading Team and I know I speak for our entire state when I say that today's honors are well-deserved.”

As the October Community Assist Award winner, Stackhouse will receive a $5,000 donation from the NBA to the charity of his choice. The NBA’s Community Assist Award is carrying on the standard of off-the-court excellence recognized by the Hometown Hero Award. The league has elected to change the name in honor of the true heroes of September 11.

Each month, all 29 NBA teams nominate a player for the Community Assist Award, other nominees for October included Golden State's Adonal Foyle, Miami's LaPhonso Ellis and Charlotte's David Wesley.

The NBA, its teams and players are committed to programs that improve the quality of life for all people and has created and implemented programs that address important social issues, with a special emphasis on reading and on-line literacy initiatives for children. The NBA and its 29 teams continue to make a difference in North America through donations to charities and the implementation of community outreach initiatives, and through the production and airing of public service announcements.