BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge native and former LSU basketball standout Tyrus Thomas has been nominated for the prestigious Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Athlete.
The Jefferson Award for Public Service is a national recognition honoring community and public service in America. The Jefferson Awards were established in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr., and Sam Beard as a Nobel Prize for public service. Today, their primary purpose is to serve as a “Call to Action for Volunteers” in local communities.
Communities are allowed and asked to vote for their candidate. Thomas’ fans can click here to vote, or text STAR39 to 55333 on any phone that supports text messaging (standard rates apply). Voting will conclude on Nov. 15, and 10 “Dream Team” finalists will be chosen.
Baton Rouge’s Thomas established the Tyrus Thomas Foundation in 2007, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in the Chicago area as well as his home state of Louisiana. The foundation will team up with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to fund educational and recreational programs that target at-risk children.
In addition to his many community-based achievements, Thomas has also started and personally funds a youth retention program in Baton Rouge entitled CATCH (Caring and Actively Teaching Children Hope). The first goal of Tyrus Thomas Inc. is to improve the lives of “at risk” youth in the Greater Baton Rouge area. TTI hopes to do this through character and leadership empowerment, advocating educational development, teaching financial and economic literacy, capturing the arts; and a healthy mind and body initiative.
August 2009 marked the graduation of the first CATCH students’ initiative program for at-risk students. “I can’t say it enough, but we want to save lives and have a drastic impact on kids through the CATCH program and Tyrus Thomas Inc,” Thomas said. “Everything I do, it’s for the kids and to help others. I’m finally seeing my dreams fulfilled through what we are doing with the CATCH program, and I want to thank everyone who has made that possible.”
On Aug. 2, Thomas also held a “Back to School” event in Baton Rouge donating 500 school bags filled with supplies for Baton Rouge area children. More information about the CATCH program can be found at www.tyrusthomas.org.
In his three seasons in the NBA, Thomas has already made a huge impact in his community. He leads the Bulls in community appearances and was given the team’s Charles S. Lubin Award for Community Service during the Bulls FestaBulls fundraiser and dinner. Thomas has also received the CWS/Blackberry Community Player of the Year. Ultimately, he believes in community work and he not only considers it a responsibility, but a great joy.
Thomas attended McKinley High in Baton Rouge and then LSU. He was the 2006 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year as well as the SEC Freshman of the Year as LSU won the Southeastern Conference and advanced to the NCAA Final Four. Tyrus was then drafted and traded to the Chicago Bull and was a 2007 NBA All-Rookie second teamer.