LeBron James Focusing on Education in Charity

James’ annual bike-a-thon that he leads around his home town of Akron, Ohio has taken a face lift this year, and is a credit to the maturing of the former 2 time MVP.

James changed the name of the event from “King for Kids” to “Wheels for Education” and will lead a two-week camp featuring reading and technology classes for 360 children about to enter third grade.

LeBron James will ride the 2.6 mile course with 20 selected high school students on the 8th of August.

“We’re looking to continue to create awareness for these young kids,” James, who founded the bike event in 2005, told The Associated Press. “Not only in this community, but in the world. Me having an influence with my voice, I’m blessed. So the No. 1 thing is creating awareness and I think this gives us an opportunity to make sure these kids not only get educated but have fun and being around people that can have a positive influence in their life.”

James suffered a fairly difficult childhood, living at times in poverty without knowing his father and being sent by his mother to live with his junior school football coach because she did not want him living a bad life because of her mistakes. He never went to college and stresses the importance of education for youth.

LeBron used sport as his outlet to escape his hardship in life and believes combining education with physical activity is key to creating a better future for America’s children.

“What helped me in school was sports,” James said. “When I was 8, 9, that was the first time I started playing organized sports and I had coaches around me that stressed education and not being allowed to play if we weren’t doing our schoolwork or being at school on time, things like that.”

LeBron isn’t stopping there though, with future charity events such as The LeBron James Skills Academy, “Kings Academy”, a Nike trip to China and his constant support with reading programs throughout the Akron area will ensure he has another busy summer. Nothing compared to that of last year’s however.

“If you compare this summer to last summer, it’s night and day,” James said. “I know I have a lot of work to do, on the court and off the court, this summer. I’m going on to another challenge, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Nice to see this side of the guy.