| Pedja helps the disabled in Greece |
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| Thursday, 15 May 2008 21:10 | ||||
 Serbia’s NBA superstar, Peja Stojaković, is, as ever, in a very charitable mood and disabled children and adults in Thessaloniki, Greece will be very grateful for his generosity. The New Orleans Hornets forward is teaming up with International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) to donate $200,000 worth of custom fitted wheelchairs - including special chairs designed for sports - and other mobility devices and therapeutic equipment, which is being distributed from May 12 – 16. Peja developed his basketball skills in his native Serbia and later in Greece. Even at the early age of 15 Peja had established himself as a professional basketball star with Red Star Belgrade. Peja’s biography tells what happened from there: In Belgrade, basketball was king. When the local coaches got a load of Peja, they got to work. He had always played hoops, but never thought enough of the sport to advance his natural skills or take advantage of his height. Peja liked the praise and attention being heaped upon him, and transferred the joy and work ethic he had formerly reserved for soccer to the hardwood. With a little technical tinkering, he developed a feathery outside touch. The rest of his game fell into place, and by age 14 the word was spreading throughout Europe that there was an elite-level talent in war-torn Yugoslavia. Peja, who had always followed the NBA, began wondering whether pro basketball might be a realistic part of his future. Red Star Belgrade, the country's best club, signed Peja and threw him into the fire against top junior competition. A year later, at 15, he made the big club and began competing against the top stars on the international circuit. He was now 6’7” and still growing. And the set and release on his jump shot was as quick as anyone's on his side of the Atlantic. Peja's trips to various European cities underscored the increasingly desperate conditions in which he and his family were living. He would come home and hear gunshots at night. He would watch the news and see his country being torn apart. When the fighting reached Pozega, the family's home was destroyed. Everything his parents had worked for was wrapped up in that house, which was now a smouldering ruin. When his Red Star contract came up for renewal in 1993, Peja said thanks but no thanks. The 16-year-old moved his family to Greece, where he managed to obtain citizenship with the aid of his new team, PAOK Thessaloniki. Peja signed a three-year playing contract and a five-year personal services deal. Peja played pro ball in Greece until 1999 when he moved on to the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association. He played in three successive NBA All-Star games from 2002 – 2004. The legendary Larry Bird once said Peja had the best shot in basketball. The Peja Stojaković Children’s Foundation is dedicated to helping children and their families in Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and around the greater New Orleans area. In 2004 the philanthropist held three events in New Orleans known as Peja’s Winter Warm Up, where Peja signed autographs and had pictures taken with people who brought winter clothing with them to donate to underprivileged families. The result of the clothing drive was that the Serbian Red Cross was able to deliver more than 7000 winter wardrobes to more than 30 refugee shelters and orphanages in Belgrade, Kraljevo, Sremska Mitrovica, Novi Sad and Niš, Serbia. In December 2004 the Peja Stojaković Children’s Foundation teamed up with the IOCC and the partnership has been responsible for donating more than $700,000 worth of medical supplies to clinics and mobile medical teams serving children, homebound elderly and rural communities in Serbia and Montenegro. Programs implemented by the Peja Stojaković Children's Foundation and IOCC are based on needs assessments done by IOCC's professional staff, in cooperation with an extensive network of partners. Since 1992, IOCC has provided more than $57 million in humanitarian assistance in the former Yugoslavia, including programs of refugee return, dental hygiene, vocational training, agricultural development, job creation and shelter repair. IOCC has helped people in 25 countries through programs of sustainable development, emergency assistance and community empowerment. IOCC and the Peja Stojaković Children's Foundation share a commitment to providing effective and efficient assistance while ensuring the highest level of accountability. The project in Greece brings the value of assistance provided by the Peja Stojaković Children’s Foundation, in partnership with IOCC, to more than $1 million.
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