In a matter of seconds, Jarrell Marshall's day went from special to unforgettable at the Carlson Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club.
It was already shaping up to be a red-letter day when Marshall got to meet Chris Paul, his favorite NBA player. Marshall, who has Hodgkin's lymphoma, was representing the regional office of the Make-A-Wish Foundation at a check-presentation ceremony at Paul's annual Winston-Salem Weekend yesterday.
Shortly after shaking Marshall's hand, Paul told him not to go anywhere.
"What's your wish?" Paul asked.
"To meet Chris Paul," Marshall quietly answered.
"That and what else?" Paul asked.
"To take my family to Jamaica on a cruise."
"I'm here to tell you," Paul said, "that your wish has been granted."
Yesterday, the opening day of Paul's fourth annual weekend of charity, was filled with such feel-good moments.
"Today is always a special day," Paul told about 50 children who took part in the kickoff event. "It's an opportunity to give back to the community, to you kids and to all the different families who need it."
Paul's day was crammed with service projects. Besides presenting checks to Senior Services and Special Olympics, he read his new book, Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big, to local school children, stuffed care packages for troops stationed overseas, worked with Special Olympics athletes and distributed food to low-income families.
Many of the activities involved students from local schools. Byron Scott, Paul's coach with the New Orleans Hornets, and his teammate, Morris Peterson, showed up to help.
Marshall, 18, learned he had Hodgkin's lymphoma in March. He has undergone chemotherapy and radiation therapy, said his mother, Constance. She had to sit on the Make-A-Wish secret for about two weeks.
"It grabbed my stomach when he called my name," Marshall said of Paul. "I knew I was coming to an event, but I didn't know it was going to be this big."
The two later shared a brief, private conversation. Marshall asked him about all the TV cameras that surrounded Paul during a news conference.
"You get used to it," Paul told him.
Later, Paul was grilled by students from Moore Elementary School, which he attended.
"Who was your second-grade teacher?"
"Who was your fifth-grade teacher?"
Paul wound up reeling off the name of every teacher he had from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Each year, Paul said he and his family look at different ways to make the weekend better than the previous year.
Some of the difficulties this year included fewer sponsorships because of the slumping economy and scheduling.
NBA camp starts next week, which means that fewer players will appear at this weekend's events, said Paul's father, Charles.
This year's activities included a taping of Homecoming, an ESPN show that follows sports stars returning to their roots.
The show was taped at Wait Chapel on Thursday night.
"We are always trying to make it bigger and better," Paul said.
lo'donnell@wsjournal.com
727-7420
The Winston-Salem Weekend will end with an interdenominational community church service and social from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the Benton Convention Center.
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