Isaiah Hartenstein Holds Holiday Shopping Spree for OKC’s Boys and Girls Club

Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein and the Hartenstein Foundation hosted a shopping spree for 20 children and their families at a local Walmart Saturday morning, partnering with the Boys and Girls Club of Oklahoma City.

Each family received individually selected toys, an extra $250 gift card, a signed Hartenstein basketball and hams at the event. The children wore Hartenstein Foundation holiday T-shirts and traditional Santa hats while shopping with Hartenstein, who initiated conversations and worked the cash register.

“Christmas is, for me, always a special event growing up, was always my favorite holiday,” Hartenstein said. “We just wanted to put something together to give the kids some joy.”

The selected gifts — enough to fill each cart — included Barbie dolls and a playhouse, Minecraft plushes and an electric scooter. Multiple children bounced basketballs between their legs in a toy aisle.

“This group of kids has just done such a good job this semester,” said Teena Belcik, the president and CEO of Oklahoma County’s Boys and Girls Clubs. “They’ve been working really hard to do a good job in school. Their attendance has been good, their behaviors have been good. And we just wanted to reward them because they’re doing such a good job.”

In addition to Saturday’s holiday shopping spree, the Hartenstein Foundation has arranged a Thanksgiving dinner, private movie screening and back-to-school event for Oklahoma City families in the last three months.

Hartenstein and the Thunder play the Washington Wizards in Paycom Center tomorrow night at 7 p.m. CST.

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