This is an article that I woke up to Christmas Morning 1999. My son was in the paper with Adam !!

From:Metro Sports| Other Sports|Saturday, December 25, 1999

Stars Spread Holiday Cheer -Show it is better to give than receive.

By MICHAEL O'KEEFFE Daily News Sports Writer

Some people think professional athletes are a spoiled lot, pampered millionaires too self-absorbed to care about others.

But many of New York's ballplayers are champions of generosity who freely give time, money, their names and themselves. They are athletes who give year-round, Santas all season, every season.

Charlie Ward makes a point of giving all year, and especially during the holidays.

These players raise millions of dollars and spirits throughout the year, sometimes in the public eye, often quietly, behind the scenes.

"It's all about the circle of life," said Knicks point guard Charlie Ward, who doesn't just register assists on the court. "It's about supporting each other."

Ward is a volunteer spokesman for the Fannie Mae Foundation and the Knicks' "Home Team" program that promotes minority home ownership. Earlier this season, Ward established a sports-tutoring program for kids, and also distributed thousands of toys to inner-city kids through Operation Holiday Hope.

Ward is also a Big Brother to a 13-year-old boy named Jordan, and his annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters golf outing has raised more than $300,000 over the last three years.

Ward believes all New Yorkers should play some role in helping the needy. "It's not just the responsibility of the athletes," Ward said.

But he leads by one terrific example.

"I have never worked with a player more committed to the community than Charlie Ward," said Zenja Quarles, the Knicks' community programs coordinator.

Adam Graves is an athlete whose heart is as big as his native Ontario.

This holiday season, the Rangers left wing helped collect almost 5,000 gifts through his Toys for Tots collections. He's also raised thousands of dollars for Family Dynamics, an agency that battles child abuse and neglect.

Adam Graves spends time with some kids at a Toys for Tots event.

"I was fortunate," Graves said. "I had a mom and a dad and a family when I was growing up. They taught me how to live. You come here and see these kids and try to teach them the same things I was taught. I love hockey ... but it's not real, is it? It's not real at all. Helping people is what's real."

Mets reliever Turk Wendell asked the club's brass last year to help him help others. Community outreach director Jill Knee schedules Wendell's Wednesdays, mid-week visits to hospitals,schools, day-care centers and other places where he might notch a save.

"It helps me remember who I am," said Wendell, who will receive three awards in February for his good deeds: the Payson Award for Humanitarian Service, from the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers of America; the New York Press Photographers' Good Guy Award; and an honor from the Leukemia Society.

"It helps me stay grounded, to remember that there are people out there who need things. If I can put a smile on a kid's face, it makes my day."

Jason Sehorn, once a needy kid raised by a proud but poor mom in Sacramento, is now a Giant among football players: His Sehorn's Corner, founded in August to help underprivileged single-parent families, raised more than $75,000 at its first fund-raiser, on Nov. 9, to promote excellence in academics and athletics. The recipients will include the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark.

The Yankees' David Cone threw a perfect game last season, but he's definitely not stingy when it comes to the needy. The David Cone Foundation has collected and distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a variety of organizations, including the Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, the Leukemia Society, the Arthritis Foundation, the Central Park Conservancy and Baseball Assistance Team, for needy ex-ballplayers.

Sheldon Souray, the Devils defenseman and a member of the Metis, was once called "stupid Indian" by a junior hockey coach. He's tried to make today's youth players more comfortable on ice by participating in hockey schools. For six years, Souray has served as a teacher at the Aboriginal Role Model Hockey School in Alberta. Two years ago, he also started his own school, the St. Paul des Metis Hockey School, which also teaches life skills such as avoiding drug abuse to kids.

"He does so much," Devils spokeswoman Jana Spaulding said. "He does a lot of things we don't even find out about."

The Jets' Keyshawn Johnson distributed nearly 300 turkeys at the Salvation Army in Hempstead,L.I., and at P.S. 28 in Harlem for Thanksgiving. He also sponsors "Key's Kids," a program that distributes tickets to Jet home games to 20 underprivileged kids, and threw a party for his kids at ESPN Zone earlier this month. Johnson also provides college scholarships for students from Dorsey High School, his South Central L.A. alma mater.

The Islanders, too, got in the holiday spirit this season. The team distributed $20,000 worth of toys to needy children on Long Island last week. Each player donated $200 into a fund that was used to buy food baskets and gifts for 15 needy Long Island families.

The Nets' Jayson Williams has been sidelined with a broken leg this season, but that hasn't kept him from lending a hand to those in need.

Williams, who made more than 100 charity appearances this year, not including impromptu visits to hospitals, is known as the NBA's biggest do-gooder. He donates $32,000 each year to send four students to St. John's University, and gave $20,000 to Continental Airlines Arena workers to make up for income lost during the NBA lockout. He raises money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark and AIDS organizations, and he invites terminally ill kids to his home. "It's a sin to be selfish," he has said.