Hoops for Troops: OKC Thunder, military members join forces for community project

Published Nov. 14, 2014
By April McDonald
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE - Okla. -- The Oklahoma City Thunder's motto is "Team is One." On Nov. 8, that motto was stretched a bit when a team of more than 50 military members and 20 members of the Thunder staff -- including players Mitch McGary, Lance Thomas and Grant Jerrett -- came together to assemble care packages for military members serving overseas.

Airmen from Tinker, Vance and Altus Air Force Bases, a Sailor with Strategic Communications Wing One at Tinker, Army Recruiters and their new recruits from the Oklahoma City area and members of the Oklahoma National Guard tipped off the Thunder's first Commitment to Service project, part of the NBA Cares Hoops for Troops initiative, at the headquarters of The Hugs Project, a non-profit organization started 10 years ago.

The volunteers spread out across the building doing various jobs including making survival bracelets, packing "Boo Boo Kits" and folding miniature flags. The care packages consisted of everything from socks to coffee cups and candy to playing cards.

Tech. Sgt. Vanessa Velez has deployed to the Middle East six times and knows how special it is to be on the receiving end of a care package. That's one reason she volunteered to help make packages for others.

"We really appreciate getting boxes like this," said the sergeant with the 97th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Altus AFB. "It really is a treat to get these. There were times you'd run out of soap, then you'd get some in a box so you didn't have to buy it."

Staff Sgt. Shawn Munn with the Army Recruiting Office in Midwest City also received care packages during his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He said getting them means a lot to troops.

"It's a little taste of home," he said. "Basically, when you're out on a mission, it's nice to come back and get a surprise. It makes you feel warm inside because you're fighting for something bigger than yourself. It just makes you appreciate things more."

Lisa Watford volunteers with The Hugs Project every Thursday and on the Saturdays when she gets a day off from her job at the Tinker Commissary. Ms. Watford said she used to donate items to the organization all the time, then "I stayed and packed a box for my brother and never left." She's volunteered there for six years.

Her brother is a 30-year veteran of the National Guard and continues to serve today. He once told her there was a table where people would put the things they didn't want from their care packages for others to pick up. She deliberately started sending him things she knew he wouldn't want so he would have something to share with other troops.

The Thunder's Jerrett said the volunteer effort meant a lot to him because he has family members who have or currently serve in the military. His brother, Adam, is in the Army, stationed in Texas.

"From the stories I hear, I know what they go through. They sacrifice a lot," he said.

"It's just little things like this that puts a smile on their face. Anything we can do to make them happy and their lives a little easier than what it is now, we should do that."

Mitch McGary agrees, "It's important to give back. Being a rookie, it's important to me to give back to the military and the community. I love to help."

Altogether, the team assembled more than 400 care packages.

"It's nice to give back," said Senior Airman Arsenio Smith of the 552nd Maintenance Squadron. "It happened to me, so it's nice to do it for someone else."