NBA star Deandre Ayton recently made a charitable donation of sporting equipment to the community of Cedar Spring in St Elizabeth.

Ayton, who has Jamaican and Bahamian roots, made the donation as part of the Ayton Family Foundation (AFF), co-founded by his mother, Andrea, who was raised in the rural St Elizabeth community prior to migrating to The Bahamas in the early 1990s.

In addition to the donation, the Ayton Family Foundation also held a community health fair, which saw scores of residents accessing medical services from a team of doctors and dentists who were on site.

Co-organisers of the event, Mack on Mack Innovations Delano McFarlane told OBSERVER ONLINE that the donation, which was coupled with a free community health fair, was just the beginning of the foundation’s work on the island.

“ This is just a first step for the foundation. The Ayton Family Foundation is all about community development, with a particular focus on rural ones. The intention is to support communities that don’t get a lot of attention and help to connect them with resources that will ultimately inspire the young people that live in these areas,” said McFarlane.

“Sports are transformative, literally you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps with good health, hard work and some resources. Hence, the donation of sporting equipment to bolster the activity offerings of the community centre and health is essential to any physical exercise so we brought along some doctors, nurses and dentist to provide services and general advice as to how to keep healthy,” added McFarlane.

Echoing similar sentiments Andrea Ayton, added that the foundation’s activation in St Elizabeth was symbolic representing her historical roots and provided an opportunity to showcase and celebrate her family heritage through an act of service.

The Ayton Family Foundation held its inaugural event in April 2025, where it raised $75,000 to support sports development in the Bahamas. The foundation plans to expand its philanthropic efforts to Jamaica, where it aimed to promote basketball in underserved rural communities.

Deandre Ayton, who was the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, recently signed with the Los Angeles Lakers where he is expected to join forces with NBA superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic.