Through his foundation, Orlando Magic guard Chris Duhon (left) is helping homeless children in Seminole County (Joshua C. Cruey, Orlando Sentinel)
Orlando Magic guard Chris Duhon knew almost instantly that he wanted to help the 1,700 homeless children who attend Seminole County public schools.
“Although I was never homeless, I was raised by a single mom,” Duhon told the Orlando Sentinel. “There were times when you kind of felt homeless because your mom is doing everything she can for you, but there’s so much to burden. There were a lot of things she had to do.”
On Saturday, Duhon and his charitable foundation will host the Ten Pins for Kids bowling tournament at the World Bowling Center in Orlando. Proceeds will benefit Seminole County Public Schools’ Families in Transition (FIT) program.
Magic teammates Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick and Quentin Richardson are expected to participate.
Duhon said his involvement with FIT started after his wife, Andrea, and his mom, Vivian, met with Kim Van Gundy before the NBA lockout started.
Kim and her husband, Stan Van Gundy, learned about the large number of homeless kids in Seminole County from a segment on “60 Minutes.”
The Van Gundys quickly became involved to help FIT. They held a fundraiser last month that raised over ,000.
And it didn’t take long to convince the Duhon family to become involved, too.
“Our whole focus with our foundation is trying to give kids the opportunity to achieve their goals and have people that support them so they can feel that they can achieve their goals,” Chris Duhon said.
“If you watch the video, you understand what FIT is trying to do. It’s a tear-dropper. You just want to try to help as many kids as you can. There’s bright kids there. All these kids are bright. All of these kids have the opportunity to do something special. They just don’t have the resources and the opportunity to do it. That’s what we’re trying to provide.”
Chris Duhon’s Stand Tall Foundation started with efforts to help rebuild his home state of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
And now that he’s based in Orlando, he says the foundation will branch out in Central Florida.
That effort will continue with Saturday’s bowling event.
He said his bowling school averages about 170 to 180.
In his opinion, that’s good enough to beat his Magic teammates .
“I’m not great, but I’m better than them,” he said.
For more information on the Ten Pins for Kids bowling event, click here.
For more information on Seminole County’s Families in Transition program, click here.
Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.
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