Philanthropy: Darfur

• Tweet

• Tweet

Steve Kauffman is leading the fight among sports agents to end the mass genocide in Darfur.

The Holocaust occurred in Europe less than 70 years ago and the event killed over 6 million Jews. It seems like the world has not yet escaped the threat of mass genocide. Today in the Sudan, many more people are being slaughtered for no particular reason. In Darfur, 400,000 civilians have been killed since February 2003. More than 3 million people have been driven from their homes. 10,000 more people are dying each month.

A member of our community, Steve Kauffman, has decided to take it upon himself to become involved and involve his players in a fight against what is occurring in Darfur. Ira Newble of the Cleveland Cavaliers (and client of Kauffman) has started to collect signatures from his teammates and other NBA players in an effort to convince China to use its power in the region and add U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur and condemn the country for its current role in aiding terror [Newble Protesting Genocide in Sudan]. While LeBron James has not yet signed the document, Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are among those that have [Cavalier Seeks Players' Support for Darfur]. In fact, LeBron James, Damon Jones, and David Wesley are the only 3 teammates who have not yet added their signature. James and Jones have business ties in China, and Wesley has not been with the team.

You know all that talk on ESPN, blogs, newspapers, etc. about how bad sports agents are? Slimy, greasy, sleaze-balls…all of us. Time to take a step back and realize that many of us actually care about giving back to the world in many ways. Steve Kauffman has left his mark by influencing one of his clients to make a change and attempt to alter the landscape in Darfur.

-Darren Heitner

No related posts.