Collective Of Black Entrepreneurs Gift Atlanta Youth Basketball Team With Bus

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A collective of Black entrepreneurs is putting the focus on paying it forward and driving impact in their community this holiday season. After learning a local youth basketball team encountered transportation obstacles, the CEOs stepped in and gifted the program with a new bus, Atlanta Black Star reported.

“I called my brothers and said, ‘Look, there’s this school and they need help getting to their games, and so I thought, what better way than to get them a bus,’” said Jason Lobdell, who is part of a group known as the Circle of CEOs. https://t.co/IDXivX0c3U

— Atlanta Black Star (@ATLBlackStar) November 28, 2021

Farad Abdurrahman—the basketball coach at the WD Mohammed school—would rely on carpools, Uber and Lyft to get his team to and from games. The long trips often took a toll on the players, parents and coaches. After learning about the challenges faced by the basketball program, a collective of Black businessmen in Atlanta—dubbed the Circle of CEOs—purchased a $27,000 bus to ensure the team could seamlessly travel to compete.

“I called my brothers and said, ‘Look, there’s this school, and they need help getting to their games, and so I thought, what better way than to get them a bus,’” entrepreneur Jason Lobdell said in a statement, according to the news outlet. For Lobdell, a fitness expert who is part of the Circle of CEOs, gifting the team with the bus was a full-circle moment for him as he grew up in the neighborhood where the school is located. He says he hopes the act of kindness will inspire students at the school to uplift and empower their community. “I wanted them to look at me and say, he’s from my neighborhood, he [one of the other CEOs] might not be, but they linked together, they came back, and they’re making an impact and not just that, those are some bright students at that school.”

Several efforts have been launched in Atlanta to empower youth through sports. In August, rapper Lil Baby teamed up with Foot Locker to refurbish a local basketball court.

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