Ron Artest Bio - NBA Ball Player & Philanthropist

Ron Artest Bio:

 Born Ronald William Artest Jr. on Nov. 13, 1979, in Queensbridge, New York, Ron has four children.  He formed a nonprofit in August 2007, entitled “Xcel University,” to officially organize and streamline his charitable contributions and community endeavors under one umbrella.  Ron officially joined the Houston Rockets in August 2008, and selected jersey #96 with the 9 representing a lowercase q and the 6 representing a lowercase b, to remind the kids he sponsors in his hometown, Queensbridge, that he is thinking of them and wants them to stay in school and get a good education.  Ron was a mathematics major at St. John’s University, was named a McDonald’s All-American, as well as the Co-Player of the Year in New York City and the State of New York as a senior at La Salle Academy.  He teamed with Elton Brand and Lamar Odom on the same AAU team as a teenager. 

 Ron has remained an active contributor in his hometown and in the cities of organizations for which he has played, working simultaneously in global regions that require urgent humanitarian aid.  He joined a contingent of representatives from the NBA Players Association and the Feed the Children program on a goodwill mission to Africa in July 2007, distributing more than one million meals to impoverished areas in Nairobi as part of the NBPA’s “Feeding One Million” campaign.  Ron presented gifts and visited residents at Feed the Children’s Abandoned Baby Center in Kawangware (Kenya), which houses orphaned, ill and neglected youth, and reunited with the Feed the Children program for a mission to Central America in August 2007, delivering rations and supplies to deprived areas throughout Honduras.  He participated in the Roosevelt Family Empowerment Weekend held in New York City in Aug. 2007, teaching a youth basketball clinic and speaking to kids about the virtues of hard work and community involvement, and revisited this community in June 2008 on a follow up and helped distribute food and hygiene supplies on behalf of Feed The Children. 

 During the past year, with the founding of his foundation, Xcel University, Ron has been busy developing and implementing his ideals and visions for youth.  Xcel University was established with the goal of identifying issues facing high-risk students while collaborating with schools and community centers to encourage and reward students who are leading productive lives.  Ron also became a spokesman in the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) A.B.C. (Animal Birth Control) campaign and sponsored a spay and neutering program of Pit Bulls at the Sacramento chapter of the SPCA, personally covering all costs for each pet owner.  He also covered the costs building and equipping an HIV testing clinic for Ray of Hope Clinic in Nairobi, Kenya in 2008.

 In October, 2008, Ron launched “The Artest Math Masters” program at Felix Cook Jr. Elementary School in partnership with the Houston Independent School District, which rewards students who maintain high grades in Mathematics during the 2008-2009 school year.  He launched a Spay/Neuter billboard ad campaign with PETA in Houston in February 2009; hosted a fundraising event for the Houston Humane Society where he played “Celebrity Chef for Charity” at Capone’s; and made an additional donation to the Ray of Hope Clinic to pay for lab technicians’ salaries for 2009, feed school children lunches, and emergency surgery for a 7 year old boy with heart problems.

 Ron has visited dozens of community centers, schools and libraries in low income areas of numerous cities throughout his career, speaking to kids about the virtues of education and a life void of violence and drugs, and the importance of getting a college education.  He has played in several Wheelchair Charities, Inc. Basketball Classics in New York City, which raises funding to assist paraplegic, quadriplegic and amputee patients.  Ron helped donate and refurbish a Reading and Learning Center at the Stanford Settlement in Sacramento, and helped renovate the Washington Neighborhood Center in Sacramento as part of the Cesar Chavez Day of Service.