On Thursday, April 25, the Sacramento Kings received two awards from local organizations – City Year Sacramento and the Greater Sacramento Urban League – for the team’s efforts to use their NBA platform to make a positive change in the community.
City Year Sacramento hosted their annual City Year Ripples of Hope Gala at Golden 1 Center, uniting Sacramento stakeholders, partners and donors to honor the work of City Year AmeriCorps members. AmeriCorps members are volunteer tutors, mentors and role models to students at eight local schools, promoting academic success and impacting over 4,000 students in impoverished areas throughout the greater Sacramento region.
During this year’s Gala, City Year Sacramento honored the Kings franchise for their ongoing commitment to the community. Kaiser Permanente Senior Vice President and Area Manager Trish Rodriguez presented Kings Owner and Chairman Vivek Ranadivé with an honorary City Year Sacramento jacket. For AmeriCorps members, the jacket symbolizes a sense of purpose for a greater cause and unity within the City Year network. Vivek and the Kings share similar values of education and equity and operate with a passion for uplifting youth and proactively investing in the local community.
Through their partnership with City Year Sacramento, the Kings have hosted and participated in hundreds of community events – including hosting NBA Fit activities at local schools, launching the “ROOT” community garden program that encourages food literacy and healthy eating and having mascot Slamson join an attendance rally at Oak Ridge Elementary School to encourage students to come to school on time every day.
The same evening, the Greater Sacramento Urban League held their annual Unity Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. For the past 19 years, the Unity Dinner has celebrated Sacramento’s corporate and community commitment to diversity and shined a light on an outstanding business or individual who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment the betterment of individuals, families and communities challenged by social and economic barriers in the Sacramento region.
At the dinner, Greater Sacramento Urban League President & CEO Cassandra Jennings presented the 2019 Unity Award to the Kings for their successful Team Up for Change summit. Kings Senior Vice President of Communications Joelle Terry accepted the award on behalf of the team for their shared commitment to educate and empower the local community.
On February 27, the Kings partnered with the Milwaukee Bucks to host “Team Up for Change” – a daylong summit convened to address social injustice and bring together community leaders, law enforcement and youth advocates from Sacramento and Milwaukee by highlighting local and national perspectives of social justice and equity. With a focus on the intersection between sports, race and the pursuit of more equitable communities, the summit encouraged working towards meaningful outcomes for positive change. Later that evening, Kings forward Harrison Barnes participated in a Q&A session with local youth to discuss his role as a player in addressing social injustices. Barnes was also in attendance at the Unity Dinner to represent the Kings franchise.
The Kings are honored to be awarded with the City Year Sacramento honoree jacket and the 2019 Unity Award in recognition of our ongoing efforts to support education, equity and expanding opportunities in our #SacramentoProud community.