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Celebrity, community join forces for collaborations that benefit children
Published 3:53 pm Thursday 18 August 2022
Editorial by the Greenville Advocate Staff
It’s nice to see community and celebrity combine for the benefit of our children.
Two cases in recent weeks in Butler and Lowndes counties, both involving former Alabama basketball star JD Davison, shed a light on how positive this relationship can be.
Greenville Regional Medical Center hosted Davison and his mother, Catrina Davison, for a Summer Reading Program event on August 9 through Reach Out and Read-Alabama.
Davison, a Fort Depositer native who now plays for the NBA’s Boston Celtics, should not only be commended for visiting with the children, but Greenville Regional Medical Center deserves credit for giving away 1,600 books to children so far in 2022 Has. In an age where tradition of books competes with the fascination of electronic screens and various gadgets, promoting reading must be a daunting challenge, but a necessary one.
Davison’s tour of our coverage area extended to Fort Deposit, where the community honored him Saturday with a parade along Alabama Highway 185 that began at Lowndes Middle School. After the parade, Davison held a meet-and-greet at the school’s grammar school, a building not big enough to hold the crowd for more than 700 guests from the local community and surrounding areas.
During an event that featured grilled food, several pick-up games, and a variety of children’s activities, Davison received two proclamations — one on behalf of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and one from the council and mayor of Fort Deposit — telling him was congratulated on his achievements.
Oftentimes in the sports world, there is so much emphasis on athlete misconduct and the harsh criticism hurled through blazing hot takes from the talking head of the day, so it’s refreshing to have opportunities to say thank you to the athletes who do the Getting things right back to their communities and showing us all that they are more than just athletes and entertainers, they are stakeholders who can use their influence and position to give back to the communities that support their growth and development to the people who they are today.
We look forward to more opportunities to highlight these athletes, whether it be JD Davison, Marlon Davidson, or another indigenous product stopping by our cities and communities to show us some love.