UConn Men Take Time To Give Back

Calhoun's Annual Food Drive Helps 700 Hartford Families

by Gavin Keefe

HARTFORD -- On the surface, they have little in common with the needy families streaming through the door of the Asylum Hill Boys and Girls Club on Monday.

UConn basketball players are living the good life, playing for one of the best programs in the country and getting a free education. People receiving turkeys and holiday fixings from the Huskies during coach Jim Calhoun's eighth annual Holiday Food Drive are in a much different place.

But dig deeper and similarities emerge.

Doug Wiggins knows the Asylum Hill neighborhood, growing up in nearby East Hartford.

"I know this means a lot to them," Wiggins said. "It's tough growing up around here."
Jeff Adrien experienced trying times living in Brookline, Mass.

"Some of us maybe had struggles like this," Adrien said. "Now we've moved on and helped our families by getting a scholarship, and we can give back by signing autographs and giving out turkeys.

"Times were rough," added Adrien, referring to his childhood. "There were times there was no food in the refrigerator. We couldn't do anything about it. You just had to maybe go to your friend's house or just grab a drink. It is good to be giving. They need it, so we're out here giving back."

By the time Calhoun, his basketball family and other volunteers finished at two Hartford locations, 700 Hartford families went home with a holiday gift. Just one smile, one expression of gratitude made the event -- which has raised over $750,000 (or 1.6 million meals) since 1999 -- worthwhile.

"For us, it makes the holiday season so much brighter because it makes it brighter for other people," Calhoun said.

The event is one of the highlights of the holiday season for Calhoun, who co-chaired the committee that helped in the drive to build the Asylum Hill Boys and Girls Club. Calhoun's wife Pat, assistant coaches George Blaney and Tom Moore, graduate assistant Justin Evanovich, and a number of players stopped by Asylum Hill while the rest of the team went to the Northend Senior Center. Big Y World Class Market and RisCassi and Davis also assisted in the Holiday Food Drive.

While walking through the line, some people received autographed posters and chatted with the Huskies.

"A lot of people in the community need support and to know that people care," said Myquiche Gamble, a UConn graduate and Husky fan who showed up at the food drive. "When you do things like this people bond more. With gas and utility prices (rising), it helps out to have something extra for the holiday season."

According to Calhoun, the goal of the Holiday Food Drive is not only provide assistance to needy families but also teach his players the importance of giving.

"There isn't a kid who goes -- black, white, green, purple, rich or poor -- who can't relate in some degree," Calhoun said. "So it's been a great, great thing. It's as good of a thing that we do in the sense of the feedback we get when everybody says thank you. We're in a position, thank God, that we're able to help right now."

A number of Calhoun's former players now in the NBA also have set up charitable causes.

Ray Allen has his Ray of Hope Foundation, which assists charities and helps children in the Seattle area. Caron Butler runs Caron's Coats for Kids, which distributed 450 sets of coats, hats and gloves this fall in his hometown of Racine, Wisc.

The Donyell Marshall Foundation runs a number of events in his hometown of Reading, Pa. and in Cleveland, where he plays for the Cavaliers. Emeka Okafor just recently launched a One Million African Lives Initiative. Working with Safe Blood For Africa Foundation, the organization hopes to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and pledges to save one million lives over five years and raise $15 million dollars. Richard Hamilton supports community programs in Detroit and back home in Coatesville, Pa.

Calhoun is no stranger to charitable causes. The Hall of the Fame coach may be gruff on the sideline, but he has a generous spirit and giving heart off the court. He's also taken an active and ongoing role in the fight against cancer and heart disease.

Serving as a celebrity host for the Hoops for Hope program in two straight years, he helped raised over $400,000 for the American Cancer Society. In the past seven years, his Celebrity Golf Classic and other related events generated more than $2.5 million for the Jim and Pat Calhoun Cardiology Research Endowment Fund.

He's also served as honorary chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, assisting in raising $4.5 million for research in the last 13 years. And just Monday he spent time talking with the president of Autism Speaks and will become a spokesperson.

"It does touch my life with two of my grandchildren," Calhoun said of his connection with autism. "I try to choose things, anything that I can that I think makes a difference, or more particularly things my heart and soul are in, that I can really empathize with the people involved."

g.keefe@theday.com or 701-4393