Michael Jordan seeks to restore Charlotte Bobcats' image

Written by: droseborough | 02/18/2012

Basketball Icon launching charity initiative Monday to help win back hearts

It's something worse, in his opinion. Somehow, after eight seasons as a franchise, the Bobcats still are not considered a part of the fabric of the community.

This is partly the team's own doing, he said, due to some regrettable moves, including a 2008 decision by former owner Robert Johnson to lay off the entire community relations staff. They were the ones responsible for coordinating team donations, community service projects and other acts of kindness.

"The former owner let things slip," said Jordan, and opportunities were lost in the process. The sports icon's frustration is obvious, particularly when he brings up how Charlotte's first NBA franchise, the Hornets, ranked No. 1 in league attendance.

"Number one for 10 years!" Jordan said, his voice rising. "The community supported it and at that time, the Hornets supported the city. I want to duplicate that. I want us to be No. 1 in attendance and No. 1 in the community.

"If we ask people to invest in us, we must invest in them."

When asked for a response, Robert Johnson said in an email that he's confident in Jordan's leadership.

Helping the hungry

Experts say it could take years to fix the damage, but Jordan is already being lauded for his first step, the formal launching Monday of a charity initiative called Cats Care.

Throughout the day, the Bobcats' staff - including players, coaches and Jordan himself - will go from one charity to the next, feeding the homeless and poor families.

A highlight will be the presentation of a refrigerated truck to Second Harvest Food Bank.

Second Harvest Executive Director Kay Carter said she was "blown away" when the team revealed its plan at a surprise meeting in November. The truck, valued at $125,000, will be a mobile pantry for the poor in largely rural areas.

"They came to me and said they wanted to make a much larger impact in the area of fighting hunger," said Carter.

"We're estimating with this truck we can distribute an additional 1.2 million pounds of food and at least 100,000 people will benefit in the first year."

Better still, she said, the Bobcats are giving the agency an additional $125,000 to buy food. "To put that into perspective, if you stacked every can of that one on top of another, it would be taller than Mount Everest."

Bobcats' officials say the presentation marks the start of what they plan to be annual charity events that focus money, service and publicity on pressing community needs.

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