Denton: Magic Honored For Homelessness Support
By John Denton
January 22, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Since Thanksgiving morning, when volunteers from the Orlando Magic served approximately 1,000 breakfast meals, Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins has been struck by the ever-changing face of homelessness in Orlando.
More so than at any point in the 18 years that the Magic have worked with the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida to serve Thanksgiving breakfasts there were more women and children at this year’s event. Seeing more homeless children than ever rammed home the point to Martins that more needed to be done to help Central Florida’s less fortunate.
``The face of homelessness today is that of women and children now,’’ said Martins, who voluntarily serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition. ``The numbers of women and children who are now homeless are outpacing the numbers for men, who have traditionally been seen as the picture of homelessness throughout this country. It’s gut-wrenching to see, particularly because of our tough economic times, and it just drives us even more to do what we can to raise funds and to support the Coalition for the Homeless.’’
The Coalition hosted an event on Thursday night at Universal’s CityWalk to honor the Magic for their 18 years of support of the homeless in Central Florida. The groups were treated to an exclusive performance from The Blue Man Group and a reception at NBA City. Martins originally balked at the idea of honoring the Magic, but ultimately agreed when he realized that the event would help raise funds and awareness for the Coalition.
``The Coalition means a lot to me personally and a lot to our organization,’’ Martins said. ``We’ve been associated with the Coalition for the Homeless now for 18 years. It started with us doing Thanksgiving morning breakfast for the homeless 18 years ago and every since then our relationship has grown and our financial investment has become more significant over the years. Our voluntary participation has included someone from the organization on the board of directors for the last dozen years. They are an organization that is very close to us and very near and dear to our hearts.’’
The Magic have more volunteers to serve Thanksgiving morning breakfast than any other event the franchise puts on all season, Martins said. This year, hundreds of homeless families lined up around a street corner for the hot meal and hospitality.
The Coalition for the Homeless is the largest provider of homeless services in Central Florida. In the past year, the center has served nearly 300,000 meals and provided more than 211,000 nights of shelter to homeless individuals and families. Brent Trotter, the president and CEO of the Coalition, said the shelter wouldn’t be able to provide many of the services that it does without the help of the Magic.
``That is the event that our staff volunteers for in greater numbers than any event we have because they know the impact that we have by serving those meals to the homeless,’’ Martins said. ``What we’ve come to realize is the growing number of children at that breakfast. That motivates us every day to try and do more. Seeing more and more kids show up homeless for that breakfast every Thanksgiving is just gut-wrenching.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John Denton
January 22, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Since Thanksgiving morning, when volunteers from the Orlando Magic served approximately 1,000 breakfast meals, Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins has been struck by the ever-changing face of homelessness in Orlando.
More so than at any point in the 18 years that the Magic have worked with the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida to serve Thanksgiving breakfasts there were more women and children at this year’s event. Seeing more homeless children than ever rammed home the point to Martins that more needed to be done to help Central Florida’s less fortunate.
``The face of homelessness today is that of women and children now,’’ said Martins, who voluntarily serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition. ``The numbers of women and children who are now homeless are outpacing the numbers for men, who have traditionally been seen as the picture of homelessness throughout this country. It’s gut-wrenching to see, particularly because of our tough economic times, and it just drives us even more to do what we can to raise funds and to support the Coalition for the Homeless.’’
The Coalition hosted an event on Thursday night at Universal’s CityWalk to honor the Magic for their 18 years of support of the homeless in Central Florida. The groups were treated to an exclusive performance from The Blue Man Group and a reception at NBA City. Martins originally balked at the idea of honoring the Magic, but ultimately agreed when he realized that the event would help raise funds and awareness for the Coalition.
``The Coalition means a lot to me personally and a lot to our organization,’’ Martins said. ``We’ve been associated with the Coalition for the Homeless now for 18 years. It started with us doing Thanksgiving morning breakfast for the homeless 18 years ago and every since then our relationship has grown and our financial investment has become more significant over the years. Our voluntary participation has included someone from the organization on the board of directors for the last dozen years. They are an organization that is very close to us and very near and dear to our hearts.’’
The Magic have more volunteers to serve Thanksgiving morning breakfast than any other event the franchise puts on all season, Martins said. This year, hundreds of homeless families lined up around a street corner for the hot meal and hospitality.
The Coalition for the Homeless is the largest provider of homeless services in Central Florida. In the past year, the center has served nearly 300,000 meals and provided more than 211,000 nights of shelter to homeless individuals and families. Brent Trotter, the president and CEO of the Coalition, said the shelter wouldn’t be able to provide many of the services that it does without the help of the Magic.
``That is the event that our staff volunteers for in greater numbers than any event we have because they know the impact that we have by serving those meals to the homeless,’’ Martins said. ``What we’ve come to realize is the growing number of children at that breakfast. That motivates us every day to try and do more. Seeing more and more kids show up homeless for that breakfast every Thanksgiving is just gut-wrenching.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
