Throughout the Thanksgiving season, the Brooklyn Nets organization and players have been active in the community to support their neighbors.
Jarrett Allen has made his Meals and Math activity an annual event, traditionally joining kids at a local grocery store and providing a budget to bring an educational element to Thanksgiving shopping. This year, the event went virtual as Jarrett connected with 25 kids from Children of Promise via video conference. Children of Promise is an after-school program and summer day camp specifically designed to meet the needs, interests and concerns of children left behind by a parent serving time in prison.
Jarrett walked the participating kids through math problems focused on budgeting, and provided them with a sample grocery list, math packet, calculator and a $100 gift card to Key Food for their holiday grocery shopping. In addition, the program added an at-home workout with Jarrett and a cooking demonstration from City Harvest.
In the eight months since the pandemic began, New Yorkers have made nearly 12 million visits to food pantries, a 36-percent jump compared with the same period in 2019, according to City Harvest. According to the New York Times, hundreds of pantries around the city have shut their doors during this time of increased demand.
Kyrie Irving and the Kai Family Foundation partnered with Fresh Direct, City Harvest and other local officials to help distribute 700 Thanksgiving turkeys, holiday side dishes and PPE at Mitchell Housing in the Bronx.
BSE Global, managing company of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center, supported the Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance’s Thanksgiving food drive by donating and distributing 1,500 pre-made and individually packaged meals to families throughout Brooklyn.