NEW YORK – Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton has received the December NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente in recognition of his efforts to brighten the holiday season for youth and families through his first annual “12 Days of Khrismas” initiative, the NBA announced today.  The award recognizes an NBA player each month who best reflects the passion that the league and its players share for giving back to their communities.

Kaiser Permanente and the NBA are honoring Middleton for his efforts to impact various populations and community organizations across Milwaukee, Charleston, S.C., and Shreveport, La., during the holidays.  Through “12 Days of Khrismas,” Middleton engaged in twelve acts of service between Giving Tuesday and Christmas Day, including surprising single mothers with a full-service spa day, providing a classroom makeover for an elementary school teacher, and donating moving supplies for a small business in Milwaukee.  He also hosted a private screening of “The Grinch” for local youth in foster care, a holiday shopping spree for youth from Big Brothers Big Sisters, and hosted more than 200 students from the Milwaukee Public Schools’ Black and Latino Male Achievement program at a December Bucks game.

Middleton also provided Walmart gift cards for all St. James-Santee Elementary School Head Start program families in Charleston, and donated $5,000 to The First Tee of Mansfield, a non-profit organization that teaches golf to children of color at Louisiana’s only black-owned course in Shreveport.  In total, Middleton impacted more than 1,000 educators, families, single mothers, small business owners and youth during the holidays.

“I love everything about Christmas; the food, the 24/7 family time, watching someone you care about open the perfect present, and ‘12 Days of Khrismas’ allowed me to spread that energy throughout all my communities,” said Middleton.  “In the month of December, it was my ultimate mission to find and honor the special people in my cities and provide them with experiences they would never forget.”

Before the Bucks’ home game against the Charlotte Hornets tonight (8:30 p.m. ET), NBA Cares Ambassador Bob Lanier will present the award to Middleton during an oncourt ceremony.  In addition, Kaiser Permanente and the NBA will donate $10,000 on Middleton’s behalf to Carolina Youth Development Center.

The NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente honors the standard set by NBA legend David Robinson, who improved the community piece by piece.  At the end of the 2018-19 regular season, the Seasonlong NBA Cares Community Assist Award winner will be announced at the 2019 NBA Awards presented by Kia.  To learn more, please visit http://www.nba.com/communityassist/.