Charity Stripe

Ference Travels To Tanzania On Behalf Of Right To Play

Pistons F Chris Webber is hosting the second annual C-Webb’s Bada Bling Celebrity Weekend this weekend in Las Vegas.  Many current and former NBAers are expected to attend, as are several celebrities.  The weekend benefits the Chris Webber Foundation, which “aims to improve literacy among disadvantaged youth” (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/15)….Nuggets G Allen Iverson’s charity softball event was held last Saturday at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie, Maryland. The game benefited the Allen Iverson Student Athlete Scholarship Fund and the Crossover Foundation (WASHINGTON TIMES, 7/16)….Bruins D Andrew Ference, who serves as an athlete ambassador for Toronto-based humanitarian group Right to Play, traveled to Tanzania recently with NHL Panthers D Steve Montador.  Ference kept a diary of the trip on BostonBruins.com (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/15)....Steelers WR Hines Ward and S Troy Polamalu have launched new charitable efforts targeting children and young military veterans, respectively, through the Pittsburgh Foundation.  The players join Steelers OT Max Starks as establishing organizations through the non-profit foundation, which oversees more than 1,000 funds for individual donors (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/17)....TNT's Charles Barkley finished last in the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Lake Tahoe last weekend, but ESPN's Brian Kenny noted Barkley toured the area "devastated by fire damage, pledging money to the relief fund and then ... treating around 100 firefighters to dinner" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 7/16).