MVN - Most Valuable Network

No Longer Gambling, Barkley Finds New Way to Spend Lots of Cash

A lot has been made of Charles Barkley’s gambling problem, but apparently, Chuck is just as willing to unload huge amounts of cash for good causes as he is willing to unload tons of cash at the casino.

The Philadelphia Daily News brings us the story of Christian Abate, a busboy at a Philly restaurant who needed to delay continuing his education at Temple University because of financial woes. Luckily for him, a customer at the restaurant would provide him with the finances needed to continue his studies:

He’s worked as a busboy for eight years at Saloon (750 S. 7th), where he struck up a friendship with one generous regular at the Italian restaurant who volunteered to pay his Temple tuition.

During a visit to Saloon last summer, Charles Barkley asked Abate how he was enjoying teaching, and was disappointed to learn that Abate had still not returned to Temple because of problems securing financial aid. Abate, 28, of South Philly, started at Temple in 1997, months after graduating from St. John Neumann High.

Sir Charles told Abate he would like to help him with his tuition, and Abate wasn’t sure how to respond. Barkley didn’t give him much time, telling Abate that he had the length of Barkley’s meal to decide. Abate wisely accepted.

As it turns out, Barkley’s made a habit of donating money to educational causes.  In addition to aiding Abate with his college tuition, Barkley has given a total of three million bucks to a pair of Alabama high schools and Auburn University.

He’s made no secret of his frustration with the media’s coverage of his gambling addiction (he recently said that he’s “not allowed to gamble” and referred to the media as “jackasses”), and perhaps Charles is justified for feeling that way.  He’s given millions to education institutions, and yet his gambling debts receive far more attention than his charitable contributions.  I haven’t always been impressed with Barkley’s handling of his gambling problem, but his beefs with the media are understandable.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.