LeBron James Family Foundation’s 330 Ambassadors leave Akron’s mark on All-Star Game’s host city, this time with hammers and nails

Feb. 17--NEW ORLEANS -- Lulu Montes had never nailed down a piece of drywall and was embarrassed when she did it wrong in her first attempt.

But soon the 16-year-old Firestone High School sophomore proved to be a whiz with her measuring skills, and those working with her developed an efficient system.

Revelations like hers were shared by the other 22 members of the LeBron James Family Foundation's "330 Ambassadors" Thursday in the still-Hurricane Katrina-stricken Bayou St. John neighborhood of New Orleans.

As part of their visit to NBA All-Star weekend, the high school students from St. Vincent-St. Mary and the Akron Public Schools partnered with Youth Rebuilding New Orleans to help rebuild a distressed home at 2753 St. Ann St.

This is the third year the ambassadors have made an All-Star trip. In 2015, four members went to New York. Last year, 12 traveled to Toronto, where they experienced an emotional day at a fitness facility dedicated to helping those with disabilities and developmental issues.

But this time, all 23 got their hands dirty.

Montes confessed she didn't know which state New Orleans was in when she learned where she was going. But as she looked down the block of long, narrow houses in various stages of reconstruction, with trucks lining the street and cones marking rocky pits in the pavement, she sounded inspired.

"I want to take home part of this city, and also the other way around -- I want to leave a piece of Akron here," Montes said. "Both cities have their own culture and they're both great. I want that to have an impact on people."

Jackson Tankersley, 17, a junior at Akron STEM High School, spent his day putting up Sheetrock on a bathroom ceiling.

"It's one thing to sightsee and see the culture, but really getting in and helping in this way, you get a totally different perspective than you would doing the average touristy things," Tankersley said. "It means a lot that we're here and actually getting to work. Building the community firsthand is really awesome to me.

"It's giving back to people who deserve it, something LeBron would really like."

On Friday's agenda is another house rebuild, this one damaged by one of seven tornadoes that touched down in six parishes last week.

Tankersley also liked the partnership with Youth Rebuilding New Orleans, founded after Hurricane Katrina when high school students learned that minors weren't permitted to participate in their city's reconstruction because of insurance liability issues.

Bring talents home

Michelle Campbell, executive director of the LeBron James Family Foundation, said the homes the local group is rebuilding will be sold to teachers at a discounted rate.

"With what we're doing back in Akron, that whole wraparound is so perfect," Campbell said, referring to the foundation's I Promise and Wheels for Education programs. James has guaranteed free four-year college scholarships at the University of Akron for qualifying students he mentors.

But the ambassadors' All-Star activities will have a payback for Akron as well. Using their time in New Orleans as inspiration, the 23 must come up with a project to benefit their hometown and it must be completed by June 1.

Guiding the ambassadors in their brainstorming will be Nicole Hassan of Akron Public Schools, who has served as a liaison to the foundation since January.

"Everything's going to come from them," Hassan said. "What I'm curious about, is it going to be a project that's a one-time thing or is it going to be something that's replicated and will continue on?"

Montes said she wants the Akron project to be something big.

"It's a city we're all used to and you're like, 'It's another ordinary day.' You don't want to live like that," she said. "You want to change people's lives and continue to do that every day."

As nails were pounded and a table saw whined in the background, all involved seemed excited about the bonding experience for the ambassadors.

"It's just been one day and we're all like a huge family again," Tankersley said.

"Even though I've been hanging out with them for a while, I feel like this trip has really impacted us because you're doing things you never thought you would be doing," Montes said.

A member of the drywall team, Hassan can attest to that.

"When we started none of us knew anything," Hassan said, four hours into the rebuilding project. "Now it's like, 'OK, we need our next piece,' and everyone does the measuring, the cutting, everyone has their own role. Everyone's come together and learned.

"Literally the first one we all stood there, not sure what to do. It didn't fit. We had to set it aside and start again. Watching the kids step up and be leaders in something they didn't have any experience in is pretty awesome."

Dinner and basketball

There will be fun mixed in with their hard work. A Cajun dinner was scheduled for Thursday night. On Saturday, they will watch James practice with the Eastern Conference All-Stars at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. They will depart Sunday, before James and Kyrie Irving represent the Cavaliers in the 8 p.m. All-Star Game at Smoothie King Center.

Montes said participating in the ambassadors program has helped her be more grateful, thankful that she didn't go through her parents' experiences as Mexican immigrants. But while she once believed she'd become a registered nurse, her involvement in James' foundation has her thinking about a career as a sociologist and continuing charity work.

"You look for the benefits, but as you go down the line you see that doesn't matter," she said of her time in the ambassador program. "That grows in each person differently. We all have a different purpose and you kind of find it. I'm really glad I joined."

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

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