Former UNC men's basketball and NBA player Eric Montross hosted his annual Father's Day basketball camp at the Smith Center on Saturday and Sunday.
Children ages 7 to 13 attend the weekend camp with their fathers. The proceeds from the camp benefit the N.C. Children’s Hospital, which helps over 2 million children in the state. This year the camp reached full enrollment at 175 participants.
Eric Montross started the camp in 1994 after he met Jason Clark, a patient at the Children's Hospital who later died of cancer.
Montross and his wife have hosted the camp with the help of UNC's basketball program for 21 years. Montross said he hopes the children come away from the camp with a sense of charity.
“We have a bunch of little philanthropists when we leave here because they understand even at a young age that they’re helping support the treatment and the doctors and the nurses over at the children’s hospital, so what you find is that you have kids mobilizing and going out to their communities all year round to raise money that they bring back to donate to camp because they know what we’re going to do with it over to the hospital,” Montross said.
Though the activities centered around basketball, the camp allowed fathers to bond with their sons and daughters while benefitting a charitable cause.
“Part of the reason for the camp is for the kids, but I think it’s more about bonding with dads and hanging out.” said Jevon Harris, who has attended the camp with his daughter for six years.
UNC men's and women's basketball players assisted with the camp. UNC basketball forward Brice Johnson has volunteered at the camp for three years.
“I love to be here; it’s a great opportunity to help out with the cause that Eric Montross has for the camp, and it’s a lot of fun,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely for the kids; the dads are out here having fun, but at the same time they’re out here trying to help their kids.”
