GENEROSITY: RUSD students received bundles of joy for the holiday season.
By: Sophia Santoso, Editor
Shortly before winter break began, every K-12 student in the Riverside Unified School District received a backpack donated by the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation. These gifts were made possible through the generosity of two-time National Basketball Association champion and graduate of Riverside Unified School District (RUSD), Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi Leonard, a professional basketball player for the Clippers, graduated from Martin Luther King High School in 2009.
Kawhi Leonard was a high school basketball star in Riverside, California. Leonard played for the wolves at MLK High School in his junior and senior years and helped the team win the CIF-SS Division 1AA boys basketball championship in 2009. After graduating from MLK High School, Leonard went to San Diego State University where his talent took him to unmeasurable levels.
Leonard signed a three-year contract with the Clippers in July. He serves as an example for students across southern California. Leonard’s generosity reminds students to always give back to the community, regardless of where success takes them. The Board of Education President Dr. Angelov Farooq expressed “On behalf of the RUSD Board we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Clippers Foundation and our alumnus, Mr. Kawhi Leonard, for this extraordinary and generous donation to our students. Kawhi is an exemplary model on the possibilities that can be achieved through concerted determination. Our community and children are fortunate that he continues to make an impact on and off the court. We look forward to following his successful journey ahead.”
As demonstrated through his incredible athletic career, extraordinary achievements and selfless actions, Kawhi Leonard is an outstanding role model for youth across Southern California. Together, let’s relish in Leonard’s desirable qualities of determination and altruism, and allow them to inspire students everywhere, to never forget where they came from.