00:00I did get outside and I played but when it came when it comes to like organized sports
00:05organized team activities I did not get to do a lot of that and it's something that we in our
00:11household talk about a lot because it does set the pillar for things outside of even the exercise
00:17right it sets the pillars for like the fundamentals of communication and understanding how to build
00:22relationships and and and and uh just your overall character uh time management uh understanding
00:30the routine like how to have a routine in life and so I think from that perspective it is so
00:35important and it's something that I I didn't have um growing up in my childhood that I'm like now
00:42instilling in my kids and is so important to me um because I had to learn quick on my feet as I got
00:48older and gain those skills like later on in my life it's the eat learn play you know day at the
00:58park we're bringing a thousand kids from summer camps around Oakland out to the ballpark today
01:05having a great time giving them a great experience me and Aisha get to throw out the first pitch um
01:11and enjoy just you know a day of fun giving these kids a great experience and watching some good
01:15baseball so it's nice to be back in the old stomping grounds obviously across the way got uh three
01:21championships over there and now we get another one to celebrate so it's nice to be back but today
01:26is about the kids so we're just gonna jump right into it you're making an announcement about your
01:33foundation can you tell us what it is we've had some success over the last four years um worked with
01:40some amazing organizations some amazing partners reached a lot of kids and now we're trying to
01:45take it to the next level in terms of um really setting up roots and planting a flag with the
01:51Oakland Unified School District the 35,000 kids that they serve uh every year uh where kids go uh pun
01:59intended but to to eat learn and play every single day and so uh we want to really support and and
02:05amplify the systems that are already in place within the school district and um and commit a 50 million
02:12dollar uh plus um plan and the strategy uh that's been developed over these uh these last years um to
02:22really meet the kids where they are and really support them in ways that across those three pillars
02:27will truly unlock their full potential and uh we're excited about it you know it's obviously a big
02:33a big task a big commitment and something that we're extremely confident that we can deliver on
02:38um and you know there's a need there throughout the system of knowing how much uh you know these kids
02:46are are reliant on the school system for just the bare essentials and so we're excited to hopefully show
02:52up for them in a meaningful way yeah Aisha did you want to add to that at all yeah no I think it's
02:58important to to let everybody know that that pledge is between now and 2026 um and we're really excited
03:06about it you know a lot of people ask like well why why partner with the school district and I don't
03:14know if you you pressed on that but again like you said it's like meeting kids where they are um you
03:20know it's it's there are happy teachers and happy educators and people within the school system that
03:27want to make the change in the impact it really just does come down to access and sort of be able to
03:33provide that access to you know the the the teachers and the faculty within the school system to set
03:41these kids up for success I think is really exciting so it's like a very multi-faceted approach
03:47yeah I think we need to reiterate 50 million dollars that is an enormous contribution and I think it's so
03:56important too right now when we think about schools that are being defunded and a lot of people aren't
04:02investing in public schools and public institutions so this is really significant what are you all
04:09looking most forward to seeing develop through this huge contribution well you know with that uh that
04:17pledge and obviously that is from some amazing partners and people who have been uh great contributors
04:24to what eat learn play has been since our inception to some community organizations that um you know
04:32this is what they do on a daily they've been they've been you know trying to activate within the community
04:37and we're trying to amplify that so diverting all of our attention and focus um through the school
04:42district I think there's some metrics that we want to kind of address in terms of you know where kids are
04:49kind of struggling within the system in terms of you know one the fact that almost 78 percent of kids
04:55qualify for either free or low-cost meal plans so you realize um to buff up um you know what's what's
05:06provided in terms of healthy nutritious meals um is a very necessity that every kid deserves so showing up in
05:12a meaningful way there and obviously empty stomachs are hard to uh to show up in a classroom to be
05:18productive so you kind of want to start there our literacy goals are huge because
05:22the third grade uh reading uh level and accomplishments there are kind of metrics for
05:29high school completion and I think around 66 percent of third graders in the OUSD system are below
05:39grade level uh proficiency and so if we can you know show up in a meaningful way there I think a
05:46big part of that is is the access to not just uh culturally relevant and age-appropriate books
05:52like I like I used to mention with the teachers but also getting them access to tutors which we know
05:57there's a lot of data on the uh the impact and the uh you know the way that kids respond if they have
06:04access to that type of attention and and um you know and those resources I think lastly within play for
06:13us there's a lot of uh data just on how many kids are getting left behind um in terms of access to
06:21spaces to go play uh participation in middle school sports and that's on the boys and girls side
06:28and just how many kids aren't living an active you know lifestyle on a daily basis
06:33so trying to again encourage them to
06:36um to take that seriously knowing how much play and sports teaches you about yourself and character
06:42development and building community and within the school district that's uh that's a big part of you
06:47know elevating and amplifying their entire school experience is that if there's something outside of
06:53basketball that you did for fun growing up what was it and why would you say play is important for
06:59children uh it's almost the exact opposite of aisha's experience i played everything like basketball
07:05baseball football golf uh skipping rocks like being out you said being outside just playing hide and go
07:13see like just random stuff that you just were um you're outside you were you know enjoying like i said
07:21community we learned how to like just be a part of like a team developing teamwork skills like little
07:27stuff like that so um it's easy for me to say because i play sports for a living now and how
07:33much it's uh helped me having that well-rounded experience growing up um as a professional now
07:39but even outside of that uh i actually hit on most of it it's just the fact that you know you get kids
07:46together and let them have fun we want kids growing up so fast now you want to just be kids a lot longer
07:52just to enjoy like a healthy childhood and what that experience is like and i think sports is a
07:57great environment for all of them right now unfortunately this has to be the last question
08:03we're already at our 15 minutes i know you all have limited time but you have been doing this work
08:10for four years and i'm sure you've come across some touching or impactful stories are there any
08:16anecdotes that you can provide just talking about the impact of your foundation we got to unveil this
08:23super cool bus a couple of years ago um that now like goes around the oakland community and provides
08:31like fresh produce fresh meals books um a safe place to play it has a basketball hoop on it and i
08:39remember when we launched um i was like okay the kids are coming here today uh but there's this hoop
08:48like we have all these books and there's this hoop and the kids aren't going to be interested in the
08:53books like how are we going to get the kids to the books like all they're going to want to do is hoop
08:57with seven which is great because i want them to play but at the same time i want them to read so like
09:01what what are we going to do we unveil the library and all of the kids ran they they ran straight to the
09:10books and we told them you know you can take as many books as you want home they were so excited
09:16kids were asking if they could take books for their siblings and they were like in tears really
09:22and and it made me cry because i was like oh my gosh like no these kids have you know a lust for
09:30learning and an excitement for reading and it really does just come down to the access to having
09:37these materials to read and so for me it was like really eye-opening and touching to see that
09:44it was made me really happy and grateful that we had the platform to be able to provide the
09:50resources for the kids um but also made me realize that we have a lot of work to do
09:55um to to you know amplify what we are doing on that bus
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