NEW YORK – State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, which featured the Western Conference defeating the Eastern Conference by a score of 140-125 in Houston, delivered a total $555,000 to charity.

As part of the event, NBA Cares and State Farm made a joint donation of $500,000 to four charitable organizations.  With the victory by the Western Conference, $350,000 will be donated to Boys & Girls Club of America and Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.  Meanwhile, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Make-A-Wish America will receive $150,000 with the Eastern Conference’s runner-up finish.

For the first time, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night featured a format that pitted the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference.  2013 NBA All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul served as captains for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams, respectively, and led their teams through the competitions. As part of the new format, points earned by each conference during the competitions determined the conference that earned the title of 2013 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night Champion. The charities that benefited from the evening were selected by Wade and Paul, the NBA, and State Farm.

In addition to the overall donation as part of the event, six teens were awarded a combined total of $55,000 in scholarships from the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens as part of the Taco Bell® Skills Challenge. The Foundation partnered with NBA Cares and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston to pair six outstanding teens with the NBA players who competed in the competition to win educational scholarships for the teens ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.

Along with the State Farm All-Star Saturday night charitable donations, State Farm and the NBA are also teaming up to promote State Farm Neighborhood Assist™. The program encourages people to give an assist in their community by nominating a worthy cause for a $25,000 grant. State Farm will award the grants in 40 communities across the United States and Canada. Anyone can submit an idea for a change they would like to see in their neighborhood at www.statefarm.com/neighborhoodassist. 200 projects will be selected as finalists and then the top 40 will be chosen via Facebook voting.

During NBA All-Star 2013, the NBA continued to celebrate its tradition of and commitment to social responsibility with a schedule of NBA Cares events. NBA Cares has partnered with schools, government, and local nonprofit organizations in Houston and surrounding areas to highlight the league’s grassroots and community initiatives that reach millions of young people and their parents while providing critical resources to community-based programs.