NEW YORK (PIX11) — New York Knicks forward Julius Randle is following through on the promise he made nearly two years ago.
Randle pledged to donate $500 for every three-pointer he made over the last two seasons to the Earl Monroe New Renaissance High School. The Knicks All-Star returned to the school on Tuesday with a check for $880,000.
The generous gift that was matched by the Knicks and JP Morgan will benefit the school’s unique literacy enhancement program.
“I’ll look back with a game that I had six or seven threes and say it’s for a good cause,” Randle told PIX 11 News. “It seems like every year we do this it gets bigger, better, and more support.”
Unknown to Randle, another sharp-shooter in New York City was inspired by his “30 for 3” campaign.
17-year-old high school student Ayden Khalid from The Dalton School in Manhattan started his own campaign. Thanks to his 73 three-pointers during his season, Khalid raised an additional $12,090.
Khalid also received donations ranging from $1 to $10 from friends and classmates.
“I thought it was a great cause, and I decided I wanted to do the same thing to help children,” Khalid explained. “My dad reached out to his friend, Dan Klores, who is the founder of the school and we connected.”
Khalid said he’d like to start a new campaign next season to help out the school’s literacy program.
The Earl Monroe New Renaissance Charter Basketball High School is the first school of its kind in the nation. Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Dan Klores founded the school with the mission: a school for basketball but NOT for the playing of the game.
