The Atlanta Hawks surprised 150 kids with pop-up basketball drills and a special appearance by Hawks player, Jalen Johnson, at the Grant Park Recreation Center. The event was part of their 2023 Community Court Tour presented by QuikTrip,
“Just seeing these kids and how excited they are to see me and their reaction with the questions they ask. I was once these kids and they have the same type of questions I had. It’s funny how things come full circle,” Johnson told The Atlanta Voice.
The event featured various activations from some of the team’s global partners, which included Microsoft supporting a S.T.E.M activation where children built their own heart-rate monitor bands to track their movement.
Aisha Jefferson, corporate communications manager at QuikTrip, was present at today’s event which brought in a full circle moment as she was a camper herself in the very same summer program at the Grant Park Recreation Center.
“It is a breath of fresh air, when I walk through the door and have been a camper here it is cool. Being back here in Atlanta is just amazing, it warms my heart,” Jefferson told The Atlanta Voice.
Also, in attendance for the event was Jon Babul, Vice President of Community Impact and Basketball Programs for the Atlanta Hawks. “It’s very gratifying being out in the community with our partners QuikTrip and Microsoft. This summer- in June and July, we are going to impact 1500+ youth around the sport of Basketball with some S.T.E.M education and teaching kids how they can apply sport and science to a future career,” Babul told The Atlanta Voice.
In addition, in collaboration with Goodr Mobile Grocery Store, each kid was able to take home a bag of groceries directly from the Goodr van.
“When we first started the conversation about a partnership with the Hawks the community aspect is what really resonated with us and our employees. It is about providing a great opportunity for these kids to experience something amazing and to have that opportunity to grow and succeed is a part of our mission,” said Lauren Sherry, community relations manager at QuikTrip.
