Former San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan is giving back to children in his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Duncan teamed with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to expand an early education initiative in his hometown of St. Croix, KSAT reported.
Duncan, who starred for the NBA's Spurs for 19 seasons, returned home Sunday to support the implementation of the Yes! Our Kids Can program, which will kick off this fall in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the television station reported.
The program works with children of low-income families to boost educational expectations and career readiness, and the Tim Duncan Foundation is helping with a $500,000 donation, KABB reported.
Duncan traveled to St. Croix with his longtime girlfriend, Vanessa Macias, and their daughter, Quill, according to KSAT.
“I was blown away by it. I went home and told Vanessa about it. She said we need to take this program and implement it in the Virgin Islands because it is easy to do and it will have a great impact on the kids, not only for the short term but the long term,” Duncan told the television station. “We’re very excited about it and I know it will do great things for the kids of the Virgin Islands.”
Duncan toured St. Croix with the Clintons, who talked about the island's Early Head Start program in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which ripped through the Virgin Islands. They were joined by U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan and U.S. Rep. Stacey Plaskett, who represents the islands, KSAT reported.
The Yes! Our Kids Can program was established in 2016, the San Antonio Express-News reported. It includes lessons with motivational songs, video and games that are played on tablets in classrooms. The program also is being used in the San Antonio Independent School District, the newspaper reported.
"We're going to accomplish great things together," read a tweet from the organization's Twitter account. "USVI, here we come!"
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