Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick donated $25,000 dollars out of his own pocket to Knight-Thon, the University of Central Florida’s Dance Marathon that benefits the Children’s Miracle Network.
J.J. Redick and his wife, Chelsea Redick, started the contest by asking people to nominate a charity via Twitter or on the NBA community website. Contestants such as KnightThon submitted videos to the Redick family explaining why their non-profit charity should be chosen.
Redick chose to donate $25k to Loaves and Fishes, an Apopka based charity that helps people in need with food and other essentials. The other $25k, that was donated to UCF’s Knight-Thon, came directly out of the Redick family’s pocket.
“We narrowed it down to three organizations, and we decided to go with something that’s very local to Central Florida.” Redick told the Orlando Sentinel in a videotaped statement.
Knight-Thon broke the news on their Facebook website stating, “Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Knight-Thon received the most wonderful gift of all this morning– $25K from JJ REDICK!!!!!!! Thank you sooooo much to all of you who helped us throughout the contest. YOU are the reason for the Christmas miracle brought to our local children at CMN hospitals!”
You can see the winning video made here:
