Accounting Customer service Hiring & human resources Legal Management Raising money Sales & marketing Selling a business Startup Technology Small & Global How We Got Started Biz Books Innovators Owner Tested Tech Edge Best Bosses Next Little Thing Startup Showdown Current Issue Archive

Giving back: Seats for Soldiers

A real estate entrepreneur's love of the Dallas Mavericks inspired a program to bring R&R to wounded vets.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)

soldiers.03.jpg
R&R at a Dallas Mavericks game against Utah.

(Fortune Small Business) -- For the past four years, wounded veterans convalescing at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio have flown by chartered plane to Dallas one night in December to dine at an oak-paneled five-star restaurant and then cheer the Dallas Mavericks, inches from the court. Texas real estate entrepreneur Neal Hawks, 47, helps foot the bill.

Hawks, an avid Mavericks fan, started reading back in 2004 about the recovery struggles of injured servicemen.

"I've had several surgeries myself, and it struck me how hard rehab is," he says. "I tried really hard to think of something unique I could do to show appreciation for what the servicemen had gone through."

The result? Hawks offered up his precious front-row Mavericks tickets to give thanks to the vets.

"I had ten guys the first time, and some were amputees. In the third-quarter break the Mavs honored them and asked them to stand - 20,000 people in the stadium gave them an ovation." When that happened, other season-ticket holders stepped forward, and last year 125 courtside seats were donated to Seats for Soldiers. To top of page

To write a note to the editor about this article, click here.

  • charles_ellis.04.jpg
    Detroit's churches are plowing millions into redeveloping local housing and businesses. More
  • bplaunch_2009.04.jpg
    These 50 metro areas have all the features entrepreneurs need to thrive. More
  • cozy_with_customer.ju.04.jpg
    Follow our road map to generate game-changing ideas for your business. More
  • winepod_1.04.jpg
    Winepod attracted a wait list of eager buyers and millions from investors. Then came the recession. More
  • wells_fargo__sf.04.jpg
    As other major banks withdrew, Wells Fargo stepped up its small business lending. More
  • lcorona_motorcycle.04.jpg
    Designer Chuck Comeau set up his manufacturing in Plainville -- 240 miles away from a major airport.  More
  • diego_son_printing.04.jpg
    As staffs shrink, business owners are taking on support duties they haven't had to handle in years. More



QWe've run a dinner theater for three decades. We've been operating at a loss for the last couple of years, and are unable to get a bank loan. We own the land and the theater building, and have put them up for sale with no success. We even closed the theater for two months this summer to save money. We don't know what to do. More
Get Answer
- Kyle, Sarasota, Fla.

Sponsors
More Galleries
What I bought with my $8,000 tax credit These 7 new homeowners stepped up their house-hunting to take advantage of the first-time buyer tax credit. More
Then and now: 'The worst slum in America' Charlotte Street in New York City's South Bronx was once world famous for its blight. Now it's a slice of suburbia in the inner city - complete with Beemers and boats. More
Hope for homeowners Critics thought homeownership would never work in the South Bronx. They were wrong. Tour the one house currently for sale on Charlotte Street. More

© 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2009 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.
MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc.
Intraday data provided by Interactive Data Real-Time Services and subject to the Terms of Use.
Intraday data is at least 20-minutes delayed. All times are ET.
Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.
Fundamental data provided by Morningstar, Inc..
SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc..
Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC.