Zaza Pachulia T-Shirts - Favorite Souvenir of Kids, US Embassy Officials and Tbilisi Mayor
On September 1, 2006s, Tbilisi Town Hall hosted a donation ceremony in which Zaza Pachulia, Georgian star of the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) donated t-shirts and caps from his current team, the Atlanta Hawks, as well as a few caps from his previous team, the Miami Heat, to a group including disabled and homeless children of Tbilisi. The initiative was supported by the U.S. Embassy, which helped in shipping the sports items from the United States, and the Tbilisi Municipality which supports several recreational centers for disabled children in Tbilisi.
Mayor Ugulava and USAID Director Denny Robertson gave a warm welcome to the young visitors. The Mayor talked about Municipality-funded programs for social integration of marginal groups and added: “We’ve done a lot, but it is still not enough. We’ll definitely try to help you feel like full-fledged members of our society.” Denny Robertson said sports was about team spirit, persistence and hard work and introduced Zaza Pachulia as “Georgia’s Honorary Ambassador to the United States.”
Zaza Pachulia personally handed out basketball shirts and tickets to the Sept 3 basketball match between the national teams of Georgia and Luxemburg to the invited audience. His interaction with the children was captured by Georgia’s leading TV channels. This is the third NBA donation ceremony organized by Zaza Pachulia in coordination with the U.S. Embassy. In 2004 then-Ambassador Miles opened a basketball summer camp with Zaza Pachulia. |
