Local Community Leaders Honored as Hometown Heroes by The Heads Up! Foundation

By Dorothy J. Gentry
Sports Editor

Texas Metro News Publisher Cheryl Smith was one of several community leaders honored this weekend as “Hometown Heroes” by The Heads Up! Foundation.

“We wanted to give people their flowers now,” said Jabari L. Johnson, founder of The Heads Up! Foundation. “It’s so much negativity spread out in the community, so we wanted to highlight the positive things going on.

“There are so many individuals right here in our backyard that are doing great things,” Johnson continued. “I wanted to do my point to highlight them and their work in the community. You can see how visible they are, who is out there in the trenches getting the work done.”

The community leaders were honored during the Foundation’s “Hometown Heroes Celebrity Basketball Game/Community Outreach on Saturday at South Oak Cliff High School. In addition to the basketball game and Hometown Heroes, there was a vendor fair, live music, and community outreach activities.

“This is a big accomplishment for me,” said Christopher Rayson, a Dallas visual artist and owner of C-Ray Art LLC. He gives back to the community through art, painting barbershop windows, custom pieces for celebrities, graphic design and more.

“I do a lot of community service and while you don’t really do it for the awards, when someone does recognize you, it just shows you’re doing the right thing,” he said. “I give all honor to God. This was a great event, Jabari has been a friend of mine for years and his foundation is always doing something positive so to be involved in this is a blessing.”

While the celebrity basketball games happen every year, this is the first Hometown Heroes event – but not the last.

“It’s gone so well; we will definitely keep it going.”

The Heads Up! Foundation is celebrating 20 years of providing after school mentoring, youth basketball teams, college and career exposure and more to young people.

“This is my ministry,” said Johnson. “Twenty-four seven, 365 we are with the youth in the community seeing these kids, and instead of them becoming statistics they can become successful.”