Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Ashley Smith saw the excitement on the kids' faces at Rose Park Elementary.
It was just difficult to tell if it was due to the new school supplies that had been delivered — art supplies, Kindles, etc. — or if it was because of who was delivering them: Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen.
There was no such confusion when it came to the teachers.
"I could tell both of them were feeling emotional," the Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club co-owner said. "I just know that job is hard, and those are the kind of people I want to champion."
Smith has a new way of being able to do just that.
On Tuesday, the Smith Entertainment Group announced the SEG Foundation, a joint philanthropic arm of the Utah Jazz, Utah Hockey Club and the Delta Center. The foundation's "All in on Utah" campaign will choose an organization or cause to support each month during the NBA and NHL seasons.
To kick things off, the foundation fulfilled the wish lists (public lists created by teachers asking for help to buy additional supplies) of over 100 teachers from 100 schools across Utah. On Thursday, Smith and Markkanen hand-delivered supplies to classrooms at Rose Park Elementary.
"Lauri and I were able to go into the elementary school and kind of see the passion of the teachers and students and their excitement," Smith said. "That's when you're thinking, 'Oh, that's the future of our state.' And we want to really activate and help where we can."
The foundation will be funded by SEG, but the organizations will invite partners, fans and community members to help by providing service and needed support for individuals, families, and groups across Utah.
The foundation will pick a new area of focus each month in order to cast a wide net and impact numerous areas.
"We want to use a whole month to make it effective and give people a chance to rally behind it," Smith said
So how will they choose the causes?
"That's a really fun and really challenging part of it," Smith said. "We definitely have areas where we have passion, but also mixing that with where we see need and where we hear from the community that there's need. So it's balancing what feels right and what's the most effective."
When it comes to those passions, Smith said one of her goals with the foundation is to help strengthen the youth and the future of the state. That led to October's focus on education. Helping Utah's youth and future falls in line with previous public efforts by the Smiths, like the Utah Jazz scholarship fund and donating $20 million to Primary Children's Hospital.
But with the new foundation, she's excited to see what other areas the organizations can impact.
"There are so many different things we would love to be a part of and to champion and to bring people together around," she said. "So it's a really nice fit with the season. Let's take a new concept, a new need each month, and go for it."
