Big Time Assist Leader

Its sometimes difficult for people in a rich country like the United States to fathom, but as Detroit Pistons NBA player Charlie Villanueva writes on his website, TenisParaNinos.Org, "one of the greatest, simple, and most immediate needs" for poor children in developing countries is a pair of shoes.

A two-time winner of the NBA Community Assist Award, donating shoes to Dominican youth is just one way Villanueva is giving back. Born to parents from the Dominican Republic, he grew up in Queens, New York. He says that he lived in a tough neighborhood, constantly around kids his age selling drugs and getting involved in crimes. Making matters more difficult, he lost all of his hair at the age of 12 due to a disease called alopecia areata. Villanueva writes in an article on ESPN.com last year: "I got teased every single day during my early teen years. I'm thankful that I was able to use basketball, introduced to me by my older brother, as a tool to be able to forget about my condition." Adds Villanueva: "I want to make sure I tell my story and encourage other kids not to lose hope no matter what they're dealing with. Just the same way I overcame, they can overcome."

Villanueva is now using his professional basketball success to help kids overcome the kinds of issues he faced. The Charlie Villanueva Foundation is working with public schools in New York City on after-school programs to stop bullying; it assists the National Alopecia Foundation helping young people deal with the disease; and last year, through a group he started up called Tenis Para Ninos (Sneakers For Kids), Villanueva stepped up to donate 10,000 Crocs shoes (made from recycled Crocs shoes and scrap material) to poor children in the Dominican Republic. A country where 42 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, many kids either have no shoes, or shoes of poor quality, which is a significant health risk.

This month, by Twitter, Villanueva, challenged by fellow NBA star Chris Bosh, offered to donate 3,000 shoes if he reached 50,000 followers before Bosh. He lost, but donated them anyway. We’re sorry to be too late in helping Villanueva win his duel with Bosh, but do look forward to seeing his starring role in the sketch Bosh has planned.

(Photo courtesy of CV31.com)