Steph Curry Gave These Excited Kids the School Library They Didn't Have for a Decade

When Steph Curry heard that kids at Garfield Elementary in Oakland had gone without a school library for 10 years, he said he had to change that.

Steph and Ayesha Curry with daughters Ryan and Riley
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Film Magic/Getty Images

Golden State Warriors superstar basketball player Steph Curry loves the kids. One of the NBA's greatest stars and wife, Ayesha, cookbook author and founder of Sweet July, often show that their proudest achievement is being parents to three. But Curry's dedication to caring for kids extends outside of the home and into the community. Recently, Curry and his foundation Eat. Learn. Play. partnered with Rakuten to give back to students in need.

Curry, a dad to daughters Riley and Ryan and son Canon, found out that an elementary school in the Oakland, California, had been without a functioning library for 10 years. Because one of the major areas of focus of his foundation Eat. Learn. Play. is literacy, he felt called to take action—so he donated everything Garfield Elementary School needed to reopen its library.

"We got furniture, arts and crafts corners, age-appropriate books from authors and stories from a lot of different backgrounds, and especially underrepresented authors and storylines that can connect with those kids and give them a vision of what's possible in their life," Curry said in an interview with Kindred by Parents.

'lt'll reopen their library and make a real investment in these kids' educational journeys. Literacy is such an important piece to their success."

He explained that grade-level reading by third grade is an important metric to predict high school and later college completion and success. "So to think about 10 years without a library in their school was actually kind of crazy, so that's a big deal."

As kids head back to school, literacy gaps and food insecurity are even more pronounced. Curry said they're especially important during the pandemic.

"Thinking about how many kids rely on school meal programs, breakfast and lunch, and how the need was increased exponentially once the pandemic started, I think we're still feeling the ramifications of that," he said. "As school starts back, you want to give kids something to look forward to."

His foundation, Eat. Learn. Play., leans into recognizing those needs and filling those gaps. It helps provide access to healthy meals, culturally relevant books, and safe places to play.

"So with all those three we're trying to be the village for the next generation," he said.

Was this page helpful?

Related Articles