There is perhaps no organization more grateful for Trae Young than the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
The Atlanta Hawks and State Farm agreed to donate to the organization $100 for every point scored over the 100-point mark this season. With the Hawks being the sixth-highest scoring team in the league, and with Young, the NBA’s leader in total points and assists, at the helm, the franchise was able to donate well over $120K to the food bank.
Rolling out caught up with the food bank’s director of institutional building, Cameron Turner, to discuss the impact of the donation.
How helpful is it to have the NBA’s leader in total points on the team?
It is amazing and super helpful. The more he scores, the more meals we get on tables for people in need.
The largest income disparity with the Black community is in Atlanta, so food insecurity is also an issue here. What does it mean to you all to help fill that gap?
Our mission is to educate, empower and engage the community. By doing that, we want to reach neighborhoods of color and lower-income neighborhoods. We currently have over 715,000 of our neighbors that are currently food insecure. So it’s super important for us to focus on those high need areas, those food deserts throughout the city and get as much food out as possible.
Food insecurity is something college students also struggle with. Do you all work with them as well?
We do. We have great partnerships with Georgia State University and Georgia Tech. A few years back, we helped Georgia State open their food first food pantry for students.
We know a lot of college kids right now are paying for school, paying for books and they’re living out of their car, and they don’t have a lot of food. So we are actively participating with the universities in the area to make sure that those kids have what they need.
