Lou Williams made the most of a day off.
The Hawks guard rounded up some friends on Sunday, rented a U-Haul and drove to a local Wal-Mart to purchase turkeys and groceries for 100 families. The group then drove around the Lawrenceville area to deliver the items to the needy.
“It was some random acts of kindness,” Williams said Monday. “I felt like people could use it. It is very, very gratifying for me just to see the appreciation the people had for what we were trying to do. We weren’t trying to disrespect anybody by any means. We went and knocked on doors, asked people if they were will to accept help. A lot of people were very receptive and we had a good time doing it.”
Williams, who graduated from South Gwinnett High, said he was inspired by a friend who did the same thing Saturday. The Hawks played the Celtics that night and Williams was unavailable.
The deed was unannounced and sent the manager of the Wal-Mart scrambling to fill the large order. Williams said it took about 45 minutes to procure 100 turkeys with Thanksgiving just four days away.
Williams is not finished. He said there were approximately 45 turkeys remaining to be delivered Monday. After some phone calls, the items were scheduled to be taken to several area group homes.
“I’ve done it in the past, organized through my foundation,” Williams said. “We still have some food drives we are going to do for Thanksgiving and toy giveaways for Christmas. But (Sunday) was just off the cuff.”
Williams used Twitter to send out a picture of the loaded delivery van.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was unaware of Williams’ deed but was not surprised.
“To be honest, this is the first I’ve heard of it and I love it,” Budenholzer said. “Our group has a really high character level and a really high care level on the court and off the court too. All of that mixes together. For Lou to do something like that speaks to Lou’s character and the kind of person he is and how he cares.”
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