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O.J. Mayo donates money for turkeys, hams for holidays
Alisha Mayo, O.J. MayoÕs mother, helps out with the giveaway of 500 turkeys and 500 hams at the A.D. Lewis Community Center on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009. The event was sponsored by Feed The Children and O.J. Mayo, the former Huntington High School basketball star who currently plays for the NBAÕs Memphis Grizzlies.
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HUNTINGTON -- O.J. Mayo may be a basketball star in the National Basketball Association, but he hasn't forgotten his hometown.
Mayo, a Huntington native, donated the money to buy 500 turkeys and 500 hams so 1,000 Huntington area families could have a better Thanksgiving. The turkeys and hams were distributed free Saturday morning at the A.D. Lewis Center in Huntington.
"He loves this town," said Alisha Mayo, O.J.'s mother. "He grew up here. He played ball here. This is a way he came up with to help people out for the holidays."
Michael Williams, a Huntington resident, rode his bicycle over to the community center Saturday morning to be among those taking home a turkey. "It's great that he's giving back to the community like this. More people should take from his example. God will bless him."
Mayo's agent, Lapoe Smith, said O.J. is donating the food so people in his hometown can have a nice holiday.
"O.J.'s a great kid," Smith said. "He's really concerned about Huntington. This is a way he can give back to the people who made him what he is...who helped mold him."
"I think he's real nice to do this," said Lucille Adams of Huntington. "Now we can have a turkey for Thanksgiving. I didn't have the money to buy a turkey. We have bills to pay and money gets scarce around the end of the month."
Glenda Black, a Barker Ridge resident, found out about the giveaway when she visited the Ebenezer Medical Outreach center in Huntington earlier Saturday.
"We wouldn't have had a Thanksgiving without this," she said. "Everything costs so much. When you see O.J., tell him 'thanks.'"
