During the 1990s, young athletes everywhere wanted "to be like Mike." Children idolized Michael Jordan and Gatorade ads suggested its product could help them play like him.
Today, kids mimic moves from LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and wear their sneakers in hopes of being like their idols. But one NBA star from Newark has a different message for the youths in his community. He created his own foundation to help spread the message.
Playing in his third season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Randy Foye comes back to the city where he grew up to teach
Newark students that if they study and work hard, they can be as successful as he has been.
"These kids didn't see me 10 or 15 years ago. I didn't drive a nice car then," Foye said. "I want them to see they can be like me."
Not every Newark athlete will make it to the professional level, but with guidance, all of them are capable of creating successful futures. And Newark's athletic successes are returning to share this message.
The Randy Foye Foundation is an organization that has set out to do just that. It raises money for programs and projects aimed at helping Newark residents. Last summer, it offered a free basketball camp in Rumson for Newark youths. It hosts fundraising events that include basketball games and the organization's summer gala.
It also provides a mentoring program called Assist 4 Life, in which Foye and members from his foundation's staff work closely with seven students from Dr. E. Alma Flagg School to make sure they are trying hard in school and striving to achieve their goals for the future.
"Before (participating in Assist 4 Life), I didn't push myself to do extra work, but since the program, I've been involved in a lot more," said Aloma Brooks, seventh-grader at Dr. E. Alma Flagg School. Now, she is also participating in medical programs at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Rutgers because she wants to be a pediatrician.
Foye stresses education to his students at his foundation, emphasizing that had he not performed well in school, he would not have had the opportunity to play basketball at Villanova. This is why he requires all students participating in his foundation to sign a contract that promises they will keep their grades up.
Members of the foundation visit the students at their school every week. Those who achieve high standards are then rewarded. Aloma made high honors, so the foundation sent her to Foye's game in Philadelphia. They also paid for buses to take the school's high honor roll students to Foye's game when he was in town playing the New Jersey Nets.
"I used to always think it was impossible for me to be on honor roll," Brooks said. "Now I always try to think of the positive and believe in the impossible. That's Randy's phrase, believe in the impossible."
Only in its first full school year, the program is growing. The foundation started at Alma Flagg because that was the elementary school that Foye attended. It will continue to work with students in the inaugural class after they graduate in hopes of expanding its programs. Specifically, East Side High School will be targeted as the next location for the program, said Christina Vuocolo, vice president of the organization. With Foye at the head, students find motivation even when they are struggling.
He communicates with students throughout the school year via e-mail, video and during occasional games when the Timberwolves plays area teams. Meanwhile, members of the foundation visit the school every week to discuss the importance of academics, conduct reading and writing exercises and discuss character-building -- often using Foye's life as an example.
Foye lost his parents before he turned 6. Raised by his grandmother and aunts, he didn't use his loss as an excuse to fall into a life of drugs or crime.
"It helped me become a man at an early age," Foye said. "I was always my own person because I never followed anyone."
He did follow sports. Foye played a little bit of everything, but he said basketball simulated life best because he had to be tough and be able to think on the court. His coach at East Side, Bryant Garvin, credited those traits with Foye's success.
Chris Faytok/The Star-LederRandy Foye when played at East Side High School."He is one of the best kids I ever coached," Garvin said. "I knew he was elite. He was a special player."
Basketball was also an opportunity for the Newark kid to see the world, even before he played at Villanova University, where he graduated, or entered the NBA. Foye played in different states and countries, which he said was best for him because it gave him a chance to leave Newark -- he didn't feel like he was stuck in one place.
This is something he wants to offer students participating in his foundation. Last summer, he invited them to his home in Red Bank for a barbecue. Afterwards, he took them shopping for clothes to wear at the foundation's gala. They later attended a Newark Bears game.
"When you get out of there, you have to have as much fun as you can before going back," Foye said.
His students did not only enjoy their outing with the NBA star last summer, but it introduced them to a brand new world.
"The program is an opportunity for me to have new experiences," said Aloma, the seventh-grader. "I never saw a mansion before. Maybe I can do the same thing and give back where I came from."
Currently, only students from Alma Flagg benefit from the Assist 4 Life program, although Foye and his organization donate money to community projects as well. Students interested in participating in the program wrote essays about their lives and foundation members used their essays to choose program participants. Aloma wrote about how her grandmother almost died and how that experience affected her life. Hearing Foye's story, she said she could relate to his loss.
She also relates to Foye's desire to give back to Newark. Aloma wants to go to Princeton and said once she is successful, she plans to give back to hospitals, shelters and schools in the city.
Of course, other athletes from Newark have given money to the city before, but Foye said his mission is different because he didn't want to wait until he was in the pros for 10 or 15 years. He knew as a young boy that he would make money doing something and he would give it back to the city where he was raised. He didn't want to wait to do it. He started his foundation in September 2007.
Future stars are working for similar accomplishments.
Hector Santiago, 21, who grew up in North Newark, is pitching in his third season for the Chicago White Sox minor league organization. His life was always about baseball, he said. His social life was baseball, which was why he was not distracted by crime or drugs.
"(Newark) was rough, but if you want something, then you have to go for it," Santiago said. "You have to stay away from the drugs and gangs."
Santiago played on many teams, including the North Ward Center. And like basketball did for Foye, baseball took the young athlete to many places outside of the city -- Santiago played for teams in Florida and Pennsylvania.
And if he makes it to the majors, Newark youths will also benefit from his success because Santiago wants to open an indoor baseball field for Newarkers. He said the lack of facilities for off-season training is a disadvantage for people in Newark, and he wants to fix that.
Santiago said he was motivated by his family and his passion for his sport to achieve his goal. Foye followed his own path. But both realize that many youths in Newark need help discovering their potential -- not just athletically, but academically. That's why they both continue coming back to Newark.
"Now, basketball is a business for me. I am marketing myself, helping friends and family," Foye said. "Somehow in my head, when I was younger, I knew I was going to be rich and I was going to give money to Newark."
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