Draymond Green grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, in a household where his mother worked multiple jobs to keep the family going. A scholarship to Michigan State changed his life, and his giving has followed that same map ever since: the school that believed in him, and the neighbourhoods in Michigan and Oakland where kids are growing up the way he did.
The $3.1 Million Thank You
Weeks after signing his first major NBA contract in 2015, Green donated $3.1 million to Michigan State, the largest gift the athletics department had ever received from a former student athlete. One million dollars built the Draymond Green Strength and Conditioning Center at the Breslin Center, and the remaining $2.1 million endows scholarships for the students who come after him.
Season of Giving
During the Warriors' annual Season of Giving, Green hosted a Thanksgiving luncheon for families and youth from the Richmond Police Activities League, helped assemble and deliver lunch bags for people in need, and took 30 young people from Covenant House, an Oakland homeless shelter, on a surprise holiday shopping spree. His own Holiday Caravan had him dressed as Santa, surprising local families with gifts.
The Sneaker Giveaway
Green's Holiday Party and Sneaker Giveaway at the West Oakland Youth Center treated 50 boys and girls to food, barbers and hairdressers, and two pairs of new sneakers each. The shoe giveaway became a December tradition, rooted in his belief that a kid who was once in those shoes should never forget what that feels like.
First Tee and the Camps
Green launched a partnership with The First Tee of the East Bay, which uses golf to teach life skills to at risk and underserved youth in Oakland and Hayward, and he has been a regular presence at Warriors basketball camps around the Bay Area, coaching kids directly.
Using His Voice
Green joined the advisory board of RISE, which works to improve race relations through sports, took part in the Warriors' Not On Our Ground anti bullying campaign, and hosted a young fan's wish visit at a Warriors game. In 2016 his year round work made him a finalist for the NBA Cares Seasonlong Community Assist Award.
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