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Felton announced on Nov. 9 that he is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Charlotte. In an effort to bring awareness to the organization, Felton will not only appear in a new multimedia campaign for TV and print, he will serve as a Big Brother to 11-year-old Ricky Wilson.
Felton knows the type of impact he can have on Ricky. Several studies have measured the effectiveness of this program, citing that 68 percent of youth in this program have improved their relationships with their peers, 74 percent have improved their academic performance, 96 percent have avoided delinquent behavior, 99 percent have avoided substance abuse, 99 percent have avoided early parenting and 84 percent have indicated more self-confidence.
Felton recently sat down with NBA News to discuss his community outreach, as well as his second season season with the Bobcats.
Why did you decide to become a Big Brother?
Felton: Growing up I had a lot of role models. I had uncles, I had older cousins, I had my dad. I'm just trying to give these kids the chance I had growing up.
Have you had a chance to hang out with Ricky yet?
Felton: Not yet. But I'm planning to spend a lot of time with him. Especially when I'm in town.
You also decided to appear in a PSA for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Why?
Felton: So I can try to get some other guys involved, maybe some other guys on the team; try to pitch in and get some guys on the (Carolina) Panthers team and just different people. They still have 300 kids that are still out there waiting for a Big Brother or a Big Sister. Hopefully by me doing it others will join in.
Do you think it's important for a pro athlete to have roots in community where he plays home games?
Felton: No question. But that's not why I decided to do this. It wasn't about trying to win over the fans, the hearts of people in Charlotte. It was something I wanted to do.
You're also involved with the Feed the Children program.
Felton: Feed the Children is something the whole team takes part in. But I'm going to do something for Christmas, handing out presents or something like that.
What do you have planned for Thanksgiving?
Felton: I'm doing the team thing, we're going to do something with Feed the Children like we did last year.
Switching the focus to on the court. How is your second season going so far?
Felton: I'ts going pretty good. Of course I think it could be better. But it's going pretty good so far, we got a big win the other night against the Spurs, so hopefully we can build on that.
Talk about some of your personal goals and team goals.
Felton: The goals of the team are that we're trying to make the playoffs. Personally, I'm just working at trying to get better, to do what I can to help us get to that point.
