Going to an annual charity bowling event for his hometown Chicago Bears is something Cleveland Cavaliers forward Max Strus fondly remembers going to as a kid with his uncle.
“I always thought, if I was
ever in this position, this is an event I’d like to do,” Strus said when addressing the attendees at the Max Strus Family Foundation’s second annual Bowl the Land event. “I wanted to bring that here and bring that to my foundation.”
Sunday’s bowling event was a fundraiser for the Max Strus Family Foundation. Since their first event last season, the foundation has donated $160,000 to non-profits that support mental health, cancer advocacy, education, and you empowerment.
While the goal of his foundation is to support and invest in organizations doing good in the Miami, Cleveland, and Chicagoland areas, that isn’t what Strus has found to be the most rewarding part of his foundation’s work.
“Giving the money to those organizations that are doing powerful things in their communities [is great], but I think the most important thing is going to meet these people, going to be a part of the organizations,” Strus said. “There’s a couple of Cleveland-based communities that just came to my game with Project NICU, and then Empower Sports. Getting to meet the people, getting to see them, getting to see the smiles on their faces…is truly what makes it all feel great.”
This includes going to visit Empower Sports — a non-profit in Cleveland that hopes to use sports to promote kindness, character, and relationships.
“I went to go watch Empower Sports play basketball and to see what they do and see how they’re affecting people’s lives is something that is truly special and near and dear to me,” Strus said. “To be able to see that the money that we’ve given can help them in any way is just something that I’m very grateful to be a part of.”
The Max Strus Family Foundation has donated grants to eight organizations so far.
“We’re here to support [groups] anywhere from youth sports, youth education, cancer outreach programs, mental health,” Strus said. “We’re really trying to spread our light, spread our awareness to any field in the Greater Cleveland Community in those areas.”
Strus was joined by all of his teammates and coaching staff at RollHouse on Sunday. Attendees were able to bowl with a member of the team.
“Them alone being here is more than anything I could ask for,” Strus said of Mitchell’s support. “It shows how close-knit we are as a team. … We’re always going to support each other no matter what. So for them to be here is truly special.”
Some of the Cavaliers were good bowlers like Lonzo Ball and Evan Mobley. Others seemed out of place like Donovan Mitchell bowling left-handed.
Even though Mitchell wasn’t the best bowler there, he and his foundation, Spida Cares, helped sponsor the event.
“Don’s foundation donated on his behalf,” Strus said. “He doesn’t have to do that. He wanted to do that and make sure he’s part of it and helping. It shows you about our team. We’re in it for the right reasons.”
While Sunday’s event was fun, Strus is excited to see how his foundation can continue to impact the community.
“We just started,” Strus said. “We’re only one year in, and feel like we’re already making a huge impact. So we just want to keep doing that and keep spreading goodness.”
