Thank You, Canada!
It has been an enormous privilege to play on Canada’s NBA team, the Toronto Raptors — and my work with the PS43 Foundation has been a huge part of that journey. Thank you to the hundreds of great Canadians who have contributed to our successes so far with the PS43 Foundation. Not only have you made my time in my adopted home country so memorable and life changing, you’ve changed the lives of young people across Canada, too.
My dad was a thoughtful and wise man. He told me that although an injury can end your athletic career before it even starts, the one thing no one can take from you is your education. He believed that if you want to support the dreams and aspirations of young people, you need to support their education. That belief is the core of our Foundation’s mission — to dream big.
And that work will continue. While my job may take me away for a while, Toronto and Canada will always be my home, and our Foundation will continue to help improve the lives of Canadian youth and build on the successes we have had.
Our Foundation will continue to break down the digital divide so that everyone has access to the tools they need to succeed. We will continue to deliver programs that help more kids succeed at — and enjoy — math. We will keep helping kids learn foundational data science skills as they work through fun, real-world problems. And where we see opportunities to score a win for young people — like we did by helping to rebuild the basketball court at Alexandra Park in downtown Toronto or creating a new scholarship for Cameroonian students coming to Canada to study technology — we will drive that lane, too.
We’re going to continue that work because that work is never done. There are always going to be young people whose dreams are bigger than their opportunities, and who will go on to give back to their communities one day if only we can get them started, today. And because that work continues, so does our Foundation. And while my time as a Toronto Raptor may have come to an end, our Foundation’s mission will live on for NBA seasons to come; that is my promise to the youth and students of Canada.
I want to encourage young people to continue to believe in themselves. I know — because I’ve seen it — that when you get the opportunity to succeed, you lift all of us a little bit higher in the process.
And I want to encourage all our current friends, partners and donors to continue supporting Canada’s young people. I also want to invite new friends to come and check us out at PS43Foundation.com so you can be part of future partnerships, donations and collaborations.
Thank you, Canada.
Thank you, friends.
Let’s keep dreaming big.