Notice TRAIL BLAZERS TAKE CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY VIRTUAL; PROMOTIONS, PANELS AND PRIZES PLANNED

TRAIL BLAZERS TAKE CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY VIRTUAL; PROMOTIONS, PANELS AND PRIZES PLANNED THROUGHOUT FEBRUARY


PORTLAND, Ore. (February 1, 2021) – In honor of Black History Month, the Portland Trail Blazers are extending support to the Black community through various initiatives, engagement and awareness efforts throughout the month of February. This year’s Black History Month outreach will engage with local organizations that advocate for the Portland Black community. To support these local organizations, the Trail Blazers will host two Black History Month-themed games, host virtual events and fan engagement opportunities, encourage employee participation with local youth organizations, sponsor prizes for fans to win and much more. Key themes for our month-long celebration focus on Black history in Portland, health and wellness, education, impact on housing and supporting local Black-owned business.


To continue the support of the Trail Blazers Racial Injustice Initiative, hosted activations and all subsequent proceeds will benefit this year’s local partners Beyond Black CDC, Word is Bond and Y.O.U.th.


“Black History Month is a great opportunity for our organization to continue supporting Black businesses and further the education of the local Black history here in Portland to our fans, employees and partners,” said Chris McGowan, President & CEO of the Trail Blazers and Rose Quarter. “We are dedicated to continuing our efforts to support the Black community for Black History Month and every month that follows.”


The Trail Blazers and Moda Health are teaming up to bring fans Black Health Week from February 8-13 and Black Health Night on February 12. Leading up to the Trail Blazers faceoff with the Cleveland Cavaliers, throughout the week, fans can expect to receive healthy recipes, exercise tips and win prizes to promote healthy lifestyles and wellbeing from the comfort of their homes. Black health experts and practitioners will weigh in on issues impacting the Black community and offer solutions and strategies regarding critical areas of maternal health, diabetes, breast cancer and heart health.


The celebration continues virtually this year with our annual Celebration of Black History game on February 20 against the Washington Wizards, with all proceeds benefiting local Racial Injustice Initiative partners Beyond Black CDC, Word is Bond and Y.O.U.th. Activations around the Celebration of Black History game include:

• National Anthem sung by Singer Mya Hunter
  
  
• Black History Month-themed long sleeve shirts produced by local Black-owned vendor Good Green
  
  
• Online auction for fans to bid on Trail Blazers-signed merchandise
  
  
• Black History-themed content, facts and trivia on the Digital Rip City Magazine located in the Trail Blazers mobile app
  

• Limited-edition Trail Blazers pin upon purchase at one of five Black-owned restaurants from February 15-20, including JoJo’s Soul Food & Memphis BBQ, Amalfi’s Italian Restaurant, Po’ Shines Café De La Soul, Ja’Das Soulful Eatz and Kee’s #Loaded Kitchen
  
  
• Chance to win one of five $100 gift cards to these local Black-owned restaurants
  
  
• And much more
  

For more information around the Celebration of Black History game, visit trailblazers.com/BHM.


"We are ecstatic to highlight local Black organizations, better our Black community and support Black-owned businesses during Black History Month and beyond,” said Ashley Clinkscale, Senior Vice President of Communications, Community & DEI. “We are proud to provide opportunities for our fans, employees and partners to learn and engage with Black organizations, businesses and the community all month long, while supporting our local Racial Injustice Initiative partners.”


Outside of the dedicated games, the Trail Blazers will virtually engage the community with various virtual events throughout the month, including:

• Portland Trail Blazers: HBCUs to the Pros - A virtual career panel for students with Trail Blazers professionals who attended a Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) on February 18. Students can gain insight in various career paths and opportunities available at HBCUs, ask questions and learn about HBCUs and their impact on our employees’ personal and professional lives
  
  
• Trail Blazers and Moda Black Health Week - A week dedicated to Black health on February 8-13 with daily enter-to-win giveaways of Moda Cookbooks and grocery gift cards to promote healthy lifestyles and daily fitness and health tips for heart and diabetes health
  

Throughout the month, the Trail Blazers are looking within and encouraging employees to join the celebration. In addition to joining and supporting the various other activations throughout the month, employees are also encouraged to support the Black community by:

• Volunteering with Y.O.U.th’s Page Turners program by recording themselves reading books aloud, including stories from a culturally specific lens. Videos are used on social media and distributed to families and schools to enhance learning and reading comprehension
  
  
• Donating children’s books featuring Black characters and written by Black authors to the Children’s Book Bank to support its “A Story Like Mine” program
  

For more information, including the calendar of events, digital assets for fans and signup pages to win prizes, visit trailblazers.com/BHM or visit our social media pages facebook.com/trailblazers on Facebook, @TrailBlazers and @BlazerCommunity on Twitter and @TrailBlazers and @BlazerCommunity on Instagram.