Victor Oladipo wins DeVos Community Enrichment Award

Victor Oladipo won the DeVos Community Enrichment Award for the second time in his career on a rewarding night at the OMYF Black Tie and Tennies Gala.

Victor Oladipo won the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award to cap off the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation’s Black Tie and Tennies Gala.

Oladipo will be granted $50,000 on behalf of The Rich and Helen DeVos Foundation to donate to the charity of his choice. This is the second time Oladipo has won the award.

“I guess it just represents me doing what I should be doing,” Oladipo said. “I feel like it is my duty and obligation to give back to the community that I live in, back to the community I used to live in, back to the community where I used to stay and give back to all the communities that I can.”

Oladipo has been one of the most active members of the Magic in the community. Among his highlights this year was donating a KIA to a mother in need of more reliable transportation to get to and from work, greeting terminally ill children before Magic games as part of the team’s Magic Makers program, sponsoring several holiday parties for needy children and conducting a surprise holiday clinic with children at a local YMCA.

And that only scratches the surface of what he and other Magic players have done throughout the community.

Victor Oladipo, Alex Martins, Orlando Magic

For his efforts in the community, Magic guard Victor Oladipo (left) is presented the 2015-16 Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award by Magic CEO Alex Martins (right) at the 26th Annual Orlando Magic Youth Foundation Black Tie & Tennies Gala held at Amway Center on March 5. Photo taken by Fernando Medina, Orlando Magic. /

Oladipo and guard Elfrid Payton were nominated for the award based on their work in the Orlando and Central Florida community. The award was selected by a committee on behalf of the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation.

“We’re all blessed with powers to change people’s lives,” Oladipo said. “The fact we’re NBA players and can go out to the community and talk to kids, it could go a mile and can mean so much to them. Just got to continue to keep doing that.”

The Orlando Magic Youth Foundation surpassed their goal of raising $20,000 on the evening through silent auctions, live auctions and individual donations throughout the evening. The McCormick Foundation will match 50 cents for every dollar raised at the event.

Attendees could bid on sports memorabilia, vacation packages and other entertainment gifts. The live auction featured trips on the Orlando Magic plane for a road game, to the NBA All-Star Game next February in Charlotte and to Super Bowl LI.

Fans in attendance also got the chance to interact with Magic players with a lip sync battle, photo stations and XBox Kinnect video games.

It was a much-needed break in the season and one of the highlight charity events not only for the Magic but in the city of Orlando. The half of the funds for the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation are raised during the Black Tie and Tennies Gala.

Each year, the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation donates nearly $1 million in grants to local organizations.

As it has been for the last 26 years, it was an event of fun and giving. A night to put things in perspective in the NBA season.

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“Everything, events like this, going out to the community put everything in perspective,” Oladipo said. “It reminds you that life can be much worse and you should be thankful for everything that you have.”