NBA player's family gives Montreal North residents new winter coats
Some 300 Montrealers received an early holiday present on Saturday – a brand new winter jacket, courtesy of an NBA player and his family.
It's a gesture rooted in community spirit.
Basketball player Bennedict Mathurin and his family gifted winter coats to residents of Montreal North.
While the NBA player couldn't be at the event, his sister, Jennifer Mathurin, said it's all about helping the community.
"Growing up here, we used to be part of the community and be people going in and getting resources when we didn't have any, so we just wanted to do the same and give back," she said.
Some 260 residents aged as young as two years old got their new coats. They’re all members of Directions For All, a non-profit organization that supports Montreal North residents.
Jennifer Mathurin, the popular NBA player's sister, says her family wanted to give back to the neighbourhood they grew up in. (Laurence Brisson Dubreuil / CTV)
It’s a neighborhood where the need is strong, said Direction For All’s Isabelle Laporte.
"It's something that answers the needs in the community – the organizations usually scramble together to try to find a way to answer those needs," she said.
Nathalie Fanfan, a mother in the area, said the gift goes a long way.
"I’m so happy," she told CTV News. "These jackets will help me save money that I can use towards other expenses."
Beyond the coats, attendees received a priceless gift: inspiration.
While Bennedict Mathurin is in his third season with the national basketball league, his journey began in the diverse Montreal neighbourhood.
Before scoring big with the Indiana Pacers, the NBA player would shoot hoops at the Henri-Bourassa basketball court.
It doesn’t matter where you're from, said Jennifer, and the diversity is what makes the community so wonderful.
"We kind of all share our own identity, and separate identities at the same time," she said.
As attendees left the event feeling warm in their new coats, so did their hearts.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
Canada's space agency invites you to choose the name of its first lunar rover
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is inviting Canadians to choose the name of the first Canadian Lunar Rover.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.