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Arron Afflalo wins 2018 Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award

By Philip Rossman-Reich

ORLANDO, FL - JULY 27: Arron Afflalo of the Orlando Magic addresses the media on July 27, 2017 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Gary Bassing/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - JULY 27: Arron Afflalo of the Orlando Magic addresses the media on July 27, 2017 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Gary Bassing/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Arron Afflalo wrote a love letter to Orlando during the summer after signing with the Orlando Magic. He gave back to the community even more this year.

When Arron Afflalo returned to the Amway Center in July, he was beaming.

To him, signing with the Orlando Magic, even on a veteran’s minimum contract, was a homecoming. He was returning to the place where he had his best individual seasons in his career. But it was something more. He was returning to the place where his daughter was born.

It was, quite simply, home.

The Instagram posts and comments from that early part of the season were from someone excited to have the opportunity to play somewhere he felt comfortable once again. In a community that had a lot of meaning to him.

The season has not gone quite how Afflalo imagined. He has largely been outside of the rotation, unable to recapture the level of play he had in his first stint in Orlando. But he is proving he can still make quite the impact in the community he cares about.

That impact earned him one more reward for his return.

Afflalo won the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award, handed out at this year’s Orlando Magic Youth Foundation Black Tie and Tennies Charity Gala. Marreese Speights and Jonathan Isaac were the other finalists for the award.

Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic /

Orlando Magic

In addition to the award, Afflalo will receive a $50,000 donation from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation to donate to the charity of his choice.

Among Afflalo’s community highlights were a trip with students at a local school to tour historic Eatonville. He also hosted a Thanksgiving meal distribution to 450 local families. Afflalo also met with students at Jones High School as part of the Project Success program and hosted a basketball clinic for 750 underserved kids.

Afflalo’s impact on the Orlando community in his first year back in Orlando was certainly a great one.

He now joins an illustrious group of winners of the award that includes Darrell Armstrong, Victor Oladipo, Tracy McGrady and Dwight Howard. This is an award that goes beyond what the players do on the court.

Saturday’s Black Tie and Tennies Gala also marked the last time the organization would hold the popular event. The 28th event at the Amway Center will be replaced with a wine festival next year to raise funds for the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation.

OMYF is expected to raise a large chunk of its funds for the upcoming year during the gala. In January, the organization presented checks totaling more than $1 million to 27 organizations in the Central Florida community.

The gala makes a big impact in the Central Florida community.

Next: Time for Orlando Magic to look toward its future

Afflalo this year has struggled on the court. But he has embodied what everyone loves about Orlando off the court. He has made the most of his return to the City Beautiful.