Everyone knows Stephen Curry, for his skills on the basketball court and for his adorably perfect family with his wife, Ayesha Curry. What not everyone knows is how passionate he is about community service.
After a contract extension in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Golden State Warriors superstar is dedicated to putting down roots there and getting involved in helping to improve the surrounding local communities. Curry told Yahoo Lifestyle, “I want to use my resources and connections in any way, shape, or form I can, to give back. I want to better the community in any way I can, especially in the Bay Area.” More specifically, he is teaming up with Brita for a really great cause.
It was brought to Curry’s attention that a growing number of schools have been testing their water and discovering contaminants. These schools are then forced to take the immediate step of buying bottled water for students. Some school systems have relied on bottled water for a decade because of the contaminants. “When I went to visit the school in my area, the students there weren’t able to get access to clean drinking water,” Curry told us.
Curry discovered this is still a problem in his own Oakland neighborhood, and as a parent, he knows that kids deserve better. He recently visited a local high school and played a pickup game with the students. After the game, the students told him how they didn’t have access to water fountains. This really hit home for the NBA player, who spent his early life growing up in the gyms.
Curry decided to partner with Brita to launch a grant program to help schools purchase and install filtering stations and replacements, eliminating their need to rely on bottled water. He told us that he is starting the initiative in the Bay Area but hopes to pursue it nationwide.
Both Curry and his fellow teammates feel strongly about using their celebrity status for the greater good. “We all understand why we’re NBA players, we love putting the ball in the basket, but there are serious issues, and we should leverage our platform for good,” Curry says.
For more info on Curry’s partnership with Brita, you can check out its website, The Filtered Life.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo.