The weekend following Independence Day, star power will shine on Beaumont and Port Arthur.
Tank will sing. Comedians will make all laugh. Jamaal Charles, Stephen Jackson and Kendrick Perkins will jam.
Thank Jordan and Jonathan Babineaux for all of that.
“Port Arthur wants to know what you’re doing for Port Arthur,” the retired Seahawks safety said. “So, we’re bringing the same type of approach and notability to what we’re doing locally. We try to touch home.”
The brothers have organized a comedy show and celebrity basketball game to benefit their Babineaux Family Foundation. The Love & Laughter Comedy Show Concert will kick off at 7:30 p.m. July 8 at the Julie Rogers Theater, 765 Pearl St., Beaumont, and feature comedians Billy Sorrells, Sydney Castillo and Nate Mingo with a performance from R&B singer Tank, best known for his hits “Maybe I Deserve” and “Shots Fired” with Chris Brown. Comedian Todd Sanderson will host the event.
The next day, the Celebrity All­Star Classic Charity Basketball Game will tip off at the Carl Parker Center at Lamar State College Port Arthur. Among guests for that game are Port Arthur Memorial alumnus and Chiefs running back Charles, Ozen graduate and Pelicans center Perkins, Lincoln High grad and former NBA guard Stephen Jackson, WNBA great Tina Thompson and former NFL players Bobby Taylor and Ken Hamlin.
Port Arthur native and Underground Kings rapper Bun B and Destiny’s Child alumna LeToya Luckett will be celebrity coaches.
The concert and basketball game will benefit the Babineaux Family Foundation, which raises awareness of lupus and supports community development and scholarships. Jordan and his brother Jonathan, an Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle, graduated from Lincoln, and head the foundation.
“We’re just taking the strength in numbers­type approach to strengthen communities,” Jordan Babineaux said. “We’re taking the unity approach of star power that we have here locally in one setting for a great summer event that the kids can look forward to. It’s going to be a lot of interaction with the kids. We’ll have pictures and shootouts and that sort of thing.”
Jordan Babineaux, who played in Super Bowl XL (2005­06 season) with the Seahawks, said the charity is partnering with the local chambers of commerce to expand its visibility.
This is the first time the Babineauxs have held a basketball event in Port Arthur.
“In the past, it’s been golf,” Jordan said. “We did that for five or six years. This will be our first basketball event. Why basketball? It could have been softball. Something fun, something inviting, something family­friendly. It welcomes people of all ages.”
•
I.C. Murrell: 721­2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews