Atlanta Hawks raise funds for prostate cancer research

At the beginning of February, the Atlanta Hawks partnered with the Prostate Cancer Foundation for a second year for the ‘Black History Month Assist Challenge’ to bring greater awareness of this disease to the African-American community. As part of the challenge, the team pledged to donate $250 per assist from the Hawks Foundation to PCF, according to a press release.

During the month of February, the team registered 352 assists, a number that includes Trae Young’s game-high seven assists during the 2020 NBA Rising Stars Game and game-high 10 assists in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. Atlanta Hawks principle owners, Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz, then contributed an additional $80,000 to the then-total of $88,000 to bring the total donation to $168,000.

Last year, the Hawks donated $150,000 to PCF.

“We felt that it was important to partner with the Prostate Cancer Foundation for a second year to raise awareness and support their research efforts,” said Executive Director of The Hawks Foundation and Executive Vice President of External Affairs David Lee. “This campaign has allowed us to reach our fans in a unique way as we expand beyond basketball, and take the time to also discuss issues that affect the community.”

The Hawks’ donation will be added to the more than $10 million committed to research teams focused on understanding why African-American men are affected by prostate cancer disproportionately to other ethnicities and how to address this issue with treatments and cures.

“Our partnership with the Atlanta Hawks has been a winning formula for raising both awareness and critical funding for life-saving cancer research,” said Prostate Cancer Foundation Chief Operations Officer Christine Jones, Esq.

Last year, the Hawks were the first team in the NBA to partner with PCF to raise awareness through basketball about the disease that affects more than four million men in the U.S. and 14 million worldwide. This season, the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and New Jersey Devils also took part in their own campaign to raise money and awareness for PCF.