Area Boys & Girls Clubs get portion of donation from LeBron's 'Decision'.
Taylor Asante, left, age 8 and Destiny Foster, age 10, paint fall themes on windows at the Boys and Girls Club on Broadway in Cleveland on Monday. Some of the money from the LeBron James "The Decision" show on ESPN held at the Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut last July will be sent to Boys and Girls Clubs in Cleveland and Akron. The girls were painting fall themes on the windows, including pumpkins, color leaves, squirrels and candy for Halloween. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "The Decision" ripped the heart from Cavaliers fans, but at least something decent will come of it.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America will divide a donation of $2 million in cash and $1 million in computers and Nike equipment among clubs in Akron, Cleveland and six other areas from the LeBron James announcement to play for the Miami Heat.
James, who signed a six-year, $110 million contract with the Heat, revealed his intent to leave the Cavs during a live ESPN broadcast from the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich (Conn.) on July 8. James' donation was directed from advertising revenue from the broadcast, known as "The Decision."
Besides Akron and Cleveland, donations will be made to Boys & Girls organizations in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut -- representing the NBA teams that pursued the two-time NBA MVP and the location where the announcement was staged. Combined, they represent 59 Boys & Girls clubs.
Each club will get 16 Hewlett-Packard computers and an $8,000 credit for Nike fitness and recreation equipment, according to Frank Sanchez, vice president of the Atlanta-based Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
How much of the $2 million each city receives will be based on how they plan to use the money. Each organization is being asked to submit a proposal to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
"Our goal," Sanchez said, "is to reach as many clubs as possible with this wonderful gift."
Although Sanchez said amounts are still to be determined, Ron Soeder, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland, said he was told his organization would get about $165,000.
The donation would be used to replace the gym floor and bleachers at the Broadway club, he said, and to repair the ceiling and add lights to the gym and add a playground at the Mt. Pleasant club.
Soeder plans to request about $200,000, which also would pay for an athletic director to serve all five Cleveland clubs.
The wish list for Akron was less specific.
Teresa LeGrair, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Western Reserve, which oversees the Arlington and Eller clubs and collaborates with Akron Public Schools, said her organization is more interested in expanding its reach -- with programs for tutoring, leadership and healthy lifestyles -- than its footprint.
"Do we need a gym built? No, we don't," said LeGrair, who had no idea what share of the donation they may get of whether the money must be tied to recreation. "I don't have a sense that that's going to be a deal-breaker if that's something we don't do."
The clubs are working within a relatively tight deadline. The request for proposals goes out this month. Proposals are due in November. The parent organization will review them in December and start rewarding money for the bigger projects early next year, Sanchez said. The computers and Nike gifts are expected to be delivered later this year.