Sacramento Kings’ Moe Harkless Sends $50,000 Back To His Hometown
Sacramento Kings’ Maurice “Moe” Harkless inspires many from his hometown on the basketball court, but he’s also helping many from Queens, New York who need help transitioning out of the foster care system.
According to NBC News, the forward first donated $25,000 in 2020 to a fund organized by New Yorkers For Children and New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, called the Last Resort Emergency Response Fund.
Harkless said that when the pandemic initially was unfolding he saw inequalities and wanted to do his part in order to help close those gaps. He then started doing his research on organizations he could support.
“I came across the Last Resort Fund and it really hit me — one, the fund being based in New York, the city that I’m from,” he said, according to NBC News. “And two, focusing on the youth. That’s always been a big passion of mine.”
New Yorkers For Children is a nonprofit group focused on young adults ages 18 to 26 who are exiting the foster care system. These individuals often do not have a safety net and face hardships such as medical expenses, school expenses and transportation costs, among others.
Harkless made his second $25,000 donation this year toward the fund’s $1.5 million total coffers. According to New Yorkers For Children and the Administration for Children’s Services his donations have reportedly helped at least 100 individuals and families facing housing instability, food insecurity and other financial strains worsened by the pandemic.
Currently, there are over 7,000 minors currently in the city’s foster care system. A 2018 report from the Administration for Children’s Services said that more than half of the children in the city’s foster care system, at the time, were Black.
