Brooklyn Nets' Jarrett Allen Takes 25 Kids Shopping For Thanksgiving
The holidays are a time for coming together with the people around us, being thankful for what we have, and sharing what we have for others. Brooklyn Nets rookie Jarrett Allen decided to celebrate by taking 25 kids shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, not just to share with the community, but also to help kids learn math and budgeting.
Handing out free turkeys, or even giving away whole Thanksgiving dinners might have been a more traditional way to give during the holidays. But Allen wanted to help kids and their families, and also teach them some essential life skills. So he took 25 7th and 8th grade kids from Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, a local community center, to a Key Food grocery store and gave each of them a calculator, a pencil, paper, and a $70 budget to buy Thanksgiving dinner for their families. Allen gave all the kids a sample menu, and he helped them with their math and making sure to get everything they wanted for dinner without going over their budget.
"I just want to show the people that I care," Allen told NetsDaily. "The importance I show is that we're more than basketball players. We actually care about what's going on in the community and in the world."
The kids were really excited to meet the 6'11" center, who at just 19 years old was the Nets' 2017 first-round draft choice, and already one of the most inspiring food stories of 2017.