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Afflalo Returns Home to Give Back to Compton
Young basketball star teams with Feed the Children, local Salvation Army to provide necessities

By Gene C. Johnson Jr.
Bulletin Staff Writer

COMPTON—With the assistance of ex-Centennial High basketball star and current Detroit Piston Aaron Afflalo, volunteers from The Salvation Army of Compton and officials from Feed the Children, an international hunger relief organization, provided on Sept. 5 more than 400 families with boxes of food (including bottled water) and personal care items.

The donation took place in front of the The Salvation Army Compton Corps Community Center, 736 E. Compton Blvd., from 10 a.m. until noon.

“Compton is where grew up, and I wanted to give back to my community now that I am in position to do so,” said Afflalo, who in 2004 led the Apaches to the school’s first ever Division III State title before earning All-American honors at UCLA.

“I still want to be involved in the Compton community. There’s an obvious need in the community. It just brings a mindset and awareness to so many of the problems that the people in this community are facing,” said Afflalo, who was drafted in the first round of 2007 by the Detroit Pistons.

Longtime Compton resident Mary Leftwich, who suffers from diabetes, said she found out about the giveaway via word of mouth.

“I love Compton. I don’t have a job and I can’t see but a few feet before me,” said Leftwich while waiting in line to be served. “I was talking to some people and my neighbors told me to come out here. And there’s a basketball player out here – and I’m a fool for basketball.”

“We have to do the best we can about helping one another throughout our own lives,” added Jessie Hall, a driver for Feed the Children who drove a big rig 1,300 miles carrying the $40,000 worth of food and personal care items from the organization’s Oklahoma City-based headquarters. “We all muddle through life the best way we can.”

In 2007, the Feed the Children distributed more than 135 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families, nationally and internationally, supplementing almost 800,000 meals each day, said the agency’s spokesperson Rebecca Gass.

Larry and Frances Jones founded Feed the Children in 1979, which is consistently ranked as one of the 10 largest international charities in the U.S., based on private and non-governmental support, Gass said.

“We know it (the Sept. 5 donation) doesn’t put a dent in their situation, but at least its showing some love, showing people that we care and showing them some encouragement,” added Capt. And Pastor Martin Ross of the Compton Salvation Army.

In addition, Ross said, the Compton Salvation Army also held a voter registration drive during the food giveaway.

“What we’re looking at is that we have a lot of disenfranchised people – including the homeless, that may not realize that they can stand up and be counted,” he said. “We’re not going for Republicans or Democrats. Stand up and be counted. We’re looking at the body, the mind and the spirit.”

Jack Mayer, associate director of development for the Southern California Division of the Salvation Army, said food giveaways like the one in Compton, should be done on a regular basis.

“There’s a big need for this,” Mayer said. “I see that we’re (the country) in a real economic crisis right now. Unemployment figures are up significantly. We’re (the Salvation Army) seeing it before it hits the newspapers.

“We’re seeing it all over Los Angeles (county)—South L.A., Lancaster, San Gabriel, in the San Fernando Valley,” he said. “I personally want to see that we don’t turn anybody away. The real issue is to be able to not do it for just one day, but to meet the continuing needs of these people to get through difficult times.”