This past weekend, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving participated in Athletes for Hope’s 9-11 service week by visiting children and families at Beech Brook, a foster care and social services charity that serves over 22,000 people in Cleveland each year. Although the visit had been scheduled for a few weeks, the children had no idea that Kyrie was planning to visit them and were excited beyond belief when he unexpectedly walked into their classroom! Kyrie spent some time answering a variety of questions before heading to the basketball court to shoot some hoops and take pictures with each person. The kids loved meeting him and had much to say after the visit.
“Dear Mr. Kyrie: I appreciated you coming and talking to us young folk. Maybe you can get dunked on another time as well. But in all seriousness, you could stop by again to give some of these children something to live for,” Chris said.
After visiting with kids in the classroom, Kyrie headed over to meet with over 100 kids and families who participated in a Beech Brook fashion show which featured all sorts of fun, colorful, and exotic costumes. Kyrie spent time sharing insight about his own journey, such as the importance of his father’s influence in his life and all the hard work he put into achieving his lifelong dream to become a pro basketball player. He then spent time with many of the individuals while signing autographs and taking pictures.
Kyrie left quite an impression on many of the people who met him. One of those children is Joshua, who said, “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come see us. I will never forget that day.”
To learn more about Beech Brook and the incredible work they do on a daily basis, visit their website here.