automotive

Kia, SiriusXM, NBA Players Partner For Holiday Effort

Kia Motors America, SiriusXM and the National Basketball Players Association are partnering to surprise families hit hardest by the pandemic with holiday presents and monetary gifts.

The deliveries, which will be announced virtually by NBPA members, coincide with the start of the 2020-2021 NBA Season with Kia NBA Tip-Off 2020 beginning Dec. 22. The actual physical gifts will be delivered in Kia K5 midsize sedans.

The holiday season can be challenging under the best of circumstances, but when you add a global pandemic into the mix, the challenges can increase exponentially, said Russell Wager, director, marketing operations, Kia Motors America. 

NBA players Coby White of the Chicago Bulls; Kia 6th Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell of the Los Angeles Lakers; Dennis Smith, Jr. of the New York Knicks; and Tyler Herro of the Miami HEAT, are set to virtually deliver the gifts.

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Each player selected their recipient family based on a personal connection or familiarity with the family’s needs and struggles throughout the pandemic. 

Smith, a New York Knicks point guard, said he nominated a single mother who lost a daughter to gun violence. 

“As athletes, we have an incredible platform that allows us to personally assist those who are really struggling, and this program with Kia gives us a chance to effect real change in the lives of some of our fans,” Smith said in a release.

This is the latest extension of Kia Motors’ “Accelerate The Good” charitable initiatives which began in March. Kia has donated $2 million to charities that assist homeless youth nationwide and manufactured and delivered more than 550,000 pieces of personal protection equipment to hospitals and medical centers nationwide.

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