Thursday, November 16th marked the beginning of the annual Season of Giving presented by East West Bank. Over 300 community members were invited to play carnival games and enjoy the annual Thanksgiving Feast at Heart of Los Angeles Lafayette Park gym. Community partners in attendance included HOLA, The City of LA Department of Recreation and Parks, East West Bank, Mixed Roots, Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena and the Los Angeles Urban League. All these groups came together for a night of games, celebration and thanksgiving.
As soon as kids began to arrive, they were excited to be greeted by the Lakers Girls! The carnival games included pinball, spin art, bowling, and of course basketball. During the games, Kyle Kuzma surprised the kids and challenged some to a free throw competition. One lucky contestant won the shootout and took home a 2017-2018 Lakers team signed basketball!
Following the shootout, guests were getting hungry and filed inside to begin the feast. Laker Girls, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma helped serve a traditional thanksgiving meal generously prepared and donated by Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que. The delicious Thanksgiving spread included turkey, ham, salad, yams, mashed potatoes, stuffing, biscuits, and of course, pumpkin pie!
Ingram and Kuzma spoke with some of that attendees after serving dinner. “A Season of Giving” continues throughout the holiday season and the Lakers look forward to sharing this special time of year with all Laker fans.