NBA player and Boston native Shabazz Napier joins Thanksgiving giveback: ‘An opportunity to do what so many people did for me’

With Thanksgiving right around the corner local nonprofit leaders participants and the NBA s Shabazz Napier manifested up to deliver food essentials and holiday cheer to hundreds of families Sunday afternoon My name s on the shirt but it s not about me explained Napier addressing the room of assistants readying to hand out food It s about the population that loved and supported on me and I m pretty sure loved and supported every one of you guys And I just want to say again from the bottom of my heart thank you and let s just continue to give back each and every day we can The National Basketball Players Association Foundation YMCA of Greater Boston and Feed the Children teamed up in Sunday to distribute food and essential goods to pre-registered families at the YMCA Food Distribution Hub in Roxbury The hundreds of local families pulled up through a drive-through line as supporters hand-delivered a -pound box of food -pound box of hygiene products and a stuffed toy through the chilly afternoon Napier former NBA and UConn point guard and current coaching apprentice with the Washington Wizards joined the dozens of supporters running the boxes turkeys and chickens up to cars and personally greeted families through their windows I wasn t raised in a home full of everything Napier commented We had to scrap as well So for me it s just an opportunity to do what so plenty of people did for me as a young person giving back being there and guiding If I needed something someone was there to help me out So it s an amazing opportunity to be able to reciprocate that among the people I m with right now family and friends and people who I ve just met It s an honor to be among these people Feed the Children Senior VP Julie Laird Davis stated the goods Sunday are things that really help families stretch their dollar further SNAP benefits don t cover things like essentials Davis declared So it s really helping when families have to make a choice between paying their rent or paying for their car payment to get to work We re really excited to promotion families with that and with it being the holiday season we re also giving out Squishmallow toys Davis encouraged people to keep giving at feedthechildren org noting with the SNAP benefits that have been delayed it s especially fundamental to patronage families right now with rising cost of food Kathryn Saunders Greater Boston YMCA senior director for partnerships and area relations declared Sunday s event was one of multiple at the YMCA supporting communities through this holiday season including upcoming meals at the Huntington Dorchester Wang and more facilities The giveback Saunders reported sought to reach folks in the Roxbury public seniors families kids who may be the next Shabazz Napier in or years He had specific of his first jobs at the Y and is very closely connected to specific of our staff people Saunders noted We all followed him and saw the great things that he was doing And he really yearned to make sure that it was this group specifically Related Articles Boston Weather Chilly sunny Thanksgiving upcoming no journey impacts forecast Try these tips for making your turkey terrific Delicious make-ahead gravy Ticker Massachusetts gas prices tick up about million people expected to advance for Thanksgiving Bird flu cases are on the rise again including million turkeys Will that affect your Thanksgiving dinner Napier revealed he was perpetually a YMCA kid since he was around five and a half years old noting he gave back at the Mission Hill location near where he grew up last week The NBA veteran explained he d requested to do a turkey drive and we got on the phone with a couple of people and we made it happen It s been a formidable time for us all and I ve invariably understood that if I can be in a position to help others I should do that Napier announced And I think with the help to Feed the Children YMCA and NBPA I was able to do that and hopefully we can continue to do that through the years Feed the Children s Julie Laird Davis briefs contributors and explains the contents of food and hygiene boxes during the YMCA of Greater Boston s Thanksgiving Giveback Libby O Neill Boston Herald