How to resolve AdBlock issue? Atlanta Hawks and State Farm unveil Gwinnett County's first joint co-branded Courts and State Farm Good Neighbor Club
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- Staff Reports | GwinnettCitizen.com
Gwinnett’s Lucky Shoals Park Is Home to the 24th and 25th Hawks Courts and a New State Farm Good Neighbor Club
The Atlanta Hawks and State Farm unveiled their first full facility with new basketball courts along with the second Good Neighbor Club at Lucky Shoals Park in Gwinnett. The outdoor courts, delivered by UPS, are the 24th and 25th to be renovated by the Hawks over the past five years, with courts 26 and 27 expected to be completed before the end of this year.
“We have reached a major milestone by renovating 25 courts and increasing access to play for more than 600,000 residents in metro Atlanta and are excited to extend beyond the original goal and continue to modernize courts in underserved areas for years to come”, said Steve Koonin, Atlanta Hawks CEO. “When building the program, our intent was always to bring programming back into the neighborhoods attached to these courts. Now with State Farm, we can continue to connect people and make a difference in our community by opening Good Neighbor Clubs and maintaining a presence in those centers.”
This Good Neighbor Club renovation included the addition of an entertainment area, a reading nook equipped with iPads, TVs, gaming consoles, dedicated classroom space for programming and new paint. The wall graphics used in the room were designed by Dimensional Innovations, an Atlanta-based experience design firm, that previously partnered with the Hawks to ideate, design and builds many of the partner spaces within the award-winning State Farm Arena, before taking on the Good Neighbor Clubs.
Yesterday’s event was attended by students and residents from the surrounding neighborhood, officials from Gwinnett County, Atlanta Hawks staff, UPS employees, and State Farm employees and agents. Bob Rathbun, Fox Sports Southeast Play-by-Play Announcer, served as event emcee and Hawks CEO Steve Koonin, State Farm Gwinnett Area Vice President Sam McCammon, UPS Business Manager John Ector, Gwinnett County District 2 Commissioner Ben Ku, and Georgia Cyber Academy student Damon Frazier, gave remarks respectively. Hawks rookie Cam Reddish officially welcomed children to the new Good Neighbor Club.
As part of the festivities, over 50 local children were surprised with custom basketball jerseys, backpacks and a host of other giveaways provided by the Hawks, State Farm, and UPS.
“UPS is honored to partner with our hometown Atlanta Hawks,” said John Ector Jr., Business Manager for UPS. “As a global company, UPS has a responsibility to build stronger, safer and more resilient communities around the world. We are excited to be involved in a project that will have a lasting impact in the Atlanta area.”
August marked the one-year anniversary of the partnership between the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm as naming rights partner of State Farm Arena. To commemorate this impactful partnership, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm announced the Million Meal Pack Initiative that will take place on Saturday, October 5 at State Farm Arena. More than 5,000 volunteers will help assemble meals to be distributed throughout the Atlanta metro area under the direction of Feeding Children Everywhere, an organization dedicated to creating a hunger-free world.
To learn more about the Hawks and State Farm’s Million Meal Pack initiative, please visit hawks.com/mealpack.
Photos credited to Kat Goduco Photo