May 30, 2007

CHAPEL HILL -- Former University of North Carolina basketball standouts and current Washington Wizards Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood continue to give back to their local communities.

Jamison, the 1998 National Collegiate Player of the Year, presented the fifth annual Antawn C. Jamison Scholarship at Charlotte's Providence High School, his former high school, on Wednesday, May 23.

The recipients were Courtney May and Mark Greene. May will attend UNC and Greene will attend Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Jamison began the scholarship program in 2003. The need-based scholarships are presented to two student athletes (one male and one female) who also excel in the classroom and exhibit great citizenship. The recipients will receive $1,000 for each year they are enrolled in college for a total of four years. A committee of Providence High Faculty selects the winners each year.

The scholarship is part of Jamison's "A Better Tomorrow" campaign. Jamison began the campaign to help provide hope for those in his communities, both his current one of Washington DC and in his hometown Charlotte.

Haywood, Carolina's alltime leading shot blocker, is joining forces with the Greater Greensboro Community Foundation to help provide the students at Peck Elementary School with books from their upcoming Spring Book Fair. On Thursday, May 31, at 8:30 am, Brendan and representatives from the Greensboro Community Foundation will present a check for $6,000.00 to Peck and meet its students as they pick out their books.

Though Brendan did not attend Peck Elementary, Peck's principal (Francine Mallory) brought to his attention about how academically successful her students were despite their economic backgrounds. She said that the large majority of her 400 students did not have any nice reading books in their home and were unable to afford to buy them at the two annual book fairs that come to Peck. Brendan, who is in the process of starting his own foundation to help single parent and low-income families, was inspired and wanted to step in and help out. He sought out additional sponsors to match his $4,000 donation to buy books for Peck. The Greater Greensboro Community Foundation stepped up and volunteered to contribute an additional $2,000 of matching funds for the project.

The Spring Book Fair, which is executed by Scholastic, will feature a "buy-one-get-one-free" sale on all books so everyone Peck student will get to take home at least two new books.

Brendan grew up in Greensboro and attended Dudley High School. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2001 with a degree in communications and just finished his sixth season with the Washington Wizards.

Peck Elementary School has some of the smartest but poorest students in North Carolina. Peck's diverse student body is 58 percent African American, 16 percent Hispanic, 8 percent multi-racial, 6 percent Asian and 3 percent American Indian. The remaining 9 percent of the student population is Caucasian. More than 85 percent of Peck students are eligible for free or reduced-priced lunches due to their parents' financial status.

Founded in 1983, Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro is a charitable organization dedicated to strengthening the community for present and future generations. With $100 million in charitable assets and more than 600 charitable funds under management, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro promotes philanthropy by addressing emerging community issues, managing permanent endowments, and working with individuals, families, corporations, private foundations, and nonprofit organizations in achieving their charitable objectives.