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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Not everyone here feels abandoned by Dwight Howard.
A young mother has been able to remain in the United States with her two daughters because of legal assistance provided by the Lakers center since he left the Orlando Magic.
A pregnant teen about to go into delivery received a ride to a hospital in a car that Howard donated.
High school students who collected coats and socks through Howard's D12 Foundation continue to be inspired by his vision for improving the community.
As far as Howard's charitable endeavors go, it's almost as if he never left.
Late last year, he donated $25,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida that the organization was able to double through a matching gifts campaign to help refurbish a service center.
He also recently gave a $20,000 matching gift to the BETA Center, which provides housing and other assistance for teen mothers and at-risk families. The facility used the money to employ a full-time nurse and replace high chairs in its lunch room.
"Dwight may have changed his address, but his heart remains with BETA," Lisa Blackwelder, the organization's director of development, told supporters at a gala in August after Howard was traded to the Lakers.
Howard's D12 Foundation hasn't uprooted, maintaining an office in Orlando. Among other endeavors, it will continue to provide summer lunches for students at Lake Como Elementary School in an impoverished area.
Howard said he's never going to ditch the city that he called home from the time he was the first overall pick in the 2004 draft until his blockbuster trade to the Lakers in August.
"I spent eight years trying to build the city up with everything in Orlando and it won't stop because I'm on a new team in a new city," Howard said Saturday. "I'm going to continue to still help out, continue to do whatever I can from afar to build that city up."
He has remained in touch with a mother from the BETA Center who was in a legal quandary. A foreign national, she faced the possibility of deportation that could have separated her from two daughters who are U.S. citizens by birth.
That is, until Superman came to the rescue.
"They were basically trying to send her back home and have somebody else take care of her kids," said Howard, who provided legal support. "I wanted to do whatever I could do for her to stay in the States to help her raise her kids. I understand how important it is for her to be around her kids. She's a young mom and she needed help. So I talked to her, I talked to her kids. I'll do whatever I can from afar to really help the situation."
Lending a hand is nothing new to Howard in Orlando.
Before becoming a Laker, he had contributed $50,000 to a learning center at the BETA Center that allows mothers and pregnant teens to do their homework and correspond with relatives through 10 computers.
He had given $30,000 for a Dwight Howard room at the Florida Hospital for Children in which giggling kids still play video games to this day.
He also presented $25,000 to Orlando's Parramore Kidz Zone, which provides after-school programs and other services intended to help children become successful adults.
"He was very, very active and honestly kind of set the tone for everybody else with his involvement in the community," said Magic guard J.J. Redick, who often finished as runner-up to Howard for the team's community service award.
A young mother has been able to remain in the United States with her two daughters because of legal assistance provided by the Lakers center since he left the Orlando Magic.
High school students who collected coats and socks through Howard's D12 Foundation continue to be inspired by his vision for improving the community.
As far as Howard's charitable endeavors go, it's almost as if he never left.
Late last year, he donated $25,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida that the organization was able to double through a matching gifts campaign to help refurbish a service center.
He also recently gave a $20,000 matching gift to the BETA Center, which provides housing and other assistance for teen mothers and at-risk families. The facility used the money to employ a full-time nurse and replace high chairs in its lunch room.
"Dwight may have changed his address, but his heart remains with BETA," Lisa Blackwelder, the organization's director of development, told supporters at a gala in August after Howard was traded to the Lakers.
Howard's D12 Foundation hasn't uprooted, maintaining an office in Orlando. Among other endeavors, it will continue to provide summer lunches for students at Lake Como Elementary School in an impoverished area.
Howard said he's never going to ditch the city that he called home from the time he was the first overall pick in the 2004 draft until his blockbuster trade to the Lakers in August.
"I spent eight years trying to build the city up with everything in Orlando and it won't stop because I'm on a new team in a new city," Howard said Saturday. "I'm going to continue to still help out, continue to do whatever I can from afar to build that city up."
He has remained in touch with a mother from the BETA Center who was in a legal quandary. A foreign national, she faced the possibility of deportation that could have separated her from two daughters who are U.S. citizens by birth.
That is, until Superman came to the rescue.
"They were basically trying to send her back home and have somebody else take care of her kids," said Howard, who provided legal support. "I wanted to do whatever I could do for her to stay in the States to help her raise her kids. I understand how important it is for her to be around her kids. She's a young mom and she needed help. So I talked to her, I talked to her kids. I'll do whatever I can from afar to really help the situation."
Lending a hand is nothing new to Howard in Orlando.
Before becoming a Laker, he had contributed $50,000 to a learning center at the BETA Center that allows mothers and pregnant teens to do their homework and correspond with relatives through 10 computers.
He had given $30,000 for a Dwight Howard room at the Florida Hospital for Children in which giggling kids still play video games to this day.
He also presented $25,000 to Orlando's Parramore Kidz Zone, which provides after-school programs and other services intended to help children become successful adults.
"He was very, very active and honestly kind of set the tone for everybody else with his involvement in the community," said Magic guard J.J. Redick, who often finished as runner-up to Howard for the team's community service award.
