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October 28, 2008
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October 30, 2008
At first glance, Hornets point guard Chris Paul, country superstar Garth Brooks and Copeland’s Restaurant appear to have little in common.
Brooks and Copeland’s Restaurant representative Charli Copeland Womac and Chef Chuck Wheeler joined Paul during a break at his 2008 basketball camp Saturday at the Lakefront Arena to detail their partnerships.
Paul is the National Basketball Association’s first player to join Brooks’ Temmates For Kids Foundation this season.
For every goal, block, assist, rebound or steal the Hornets’ point guard makes during the 2009-10 season, Brooks said his non-profit organization will donate money to Paul’s foundation.
The Chris Paul Foundation supports charities in New Orleans and in the point guard’s hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C.
“Chris is going to be like our arrangement with every other athlete – whatever he pledges … it is our job as a foundation to triple that money,” Brooks said.
“We are very lucky to enter this sport, and we are very lucky to have had a great conversation with the players’ association and the leage up in New York last week,” he added.
Since its inception in January 1999, Brooks said Teammates For Kids has donated more than $68 million in cash, gifts and scholarships through players and teams in Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Hockey League.
Brooks said 100 percent of the monies raised by his organization is given to benefit children through education, health care and inner city outreach programs.
“This is unbelievable,” Paul told the media. “I would have never thought that growing up through high school and college that, first of all, I would meet Garth Brooks. It’s unbelievable what he does with Teammates for Kids.”
“I’m grateful to (Brooks) to allow me to be a part of this,” the Hornets point guard said. “Like he said, I’ll be the first guy in the NBA. It’s in all other sports, but to be the first guy in the NBA is an honor.”
Copeland’s Restaurant, in the meantime, unveiled its signature “Chris Paul CP3” dish.
“It’s a chipotle chili marinated pork loin with chili mashed potatoes,” Wheeler said. Proceeds from the sale of the entree will benefit the Chris Paul Basketball Camp Scholarship Fund and the Al Copeland Foundation, which raises money toward cancer research, the late restauranteur’s daughter, Copeland Womac said.
Paul said he and his brother worked with Copeland’s to create the spicy dish. “Well, it’s not spicy for New Orleans, but it was hot enough for me,” he said, laughing.
Country singer Garth Brooks, Hornets point guard Chris Paul and Copeland’s Restaurant’s Charli Copeland Womac and Chef Chuck Wheeler announced a partnership to help children at a press conference at the Lakefront Arena Saturday. * Photo by SHELL ARMSTRONG
