January 11, 2008

MEDIA ADVISORY

Future Foundation Founder Shareef Abdur-Rahim receives prestigious Trumpet Award

Future Foundation founder Shareef Abdur-Rahim will be honored for his work to improve the lives of Atlanta youth when he receives the prestigious Trumpet Award at 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 13 during the 16th Annual Trumpet Awards Ceremony at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center.

Abdur-Rahim will receive the Usher Raymond Altruism award for his accomplishments as founder of the Future Foundation, a nonprofit organization he started in 2001 in East Point, Ga. The Future Foundation offers free academic, physical, social and development enrichment programs to at-risk youth ages nine to 18.

“I am grateful and honored to receive this award because it really speaks to our organization’s tireless efforts to provide positive activities for our young people,” said Abdur-Rahim, an Atlanta native and former Atlanta Hawks basketball player who currently plays for the Sacramento Kings. “We know that by empowering youth with enrichment and educational programs like the Future Foundation offers, they’ll be able to rise above any challenge in life and become adults who will change the world.”

Abdur-Rahim, 31, is one of 11 honorees receiving the Trumpet Award, which honors African American achievements in law, business, medicine, politics, entertainment and public service.

Other Trumpet Award honorees include: Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges, Usher Raymond Altruism Award; Halle Berry, Entertainment & Pinnacle Award; Dr. T. B. Boyd III, Business; The Honorable Paul L. Brady, Legal; Danny Glover, Humanitarian; Sheila C. Johnson, Entrepreneur; Brian O. Jordan, Athlete/Developer; Dr. Vance and Dr. Vincent Moss, Medicine; Najee, Arts; and Donald C. Thompson, Corporate Executive.

The Trumpet Awards will also honor public officials and elected servants with a Tower of Power award, including Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, Congressmen Sanford Bishop Jr. and Hank Johnson, and Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore.

The Trumpet Awards ceremony will air on TV One at 8 p.m. on March 3 and actor Samuel Jackson and his wife LaTanya Richardson Jackson are scheduled to co-host the event. The 2008 Trumpet Awards is presented by the Trumpet Awards Foundation and is sponsored by Turner Broadcasting System.