The Gasol Foundation Launches Christmas Campaign Featuring Exclusive Pau Gasol Memorabilia

Gasol Foundation is ready to make this holiday season legendary. That is the objective of their recently launched Pau Gasol Legendary Christmas Sweepstakes digital campaign in which one lucky winner will receive a commemorative Hall of Fame package of exclusive sports items from its President, Pau Gasol. 

“I am very excited that these three objects, so symbolic and with so much sentimental value, can contribute to raising funds for the mission of the Gasol Foundation,” Pau Gasol commented. “I’m sure that the winning person will enjoy them even more knowing the support we can give to families in a vulnerable situation that participate in our programs promoting healthy habits thanks to this action.”

For the winner, the prize will be threefold: they will receive one replica ring of the one Pau Gasol received as a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last August; a commemorative number 16 Los Angeles

Lakers hat -the most successful franchise in the NBA; and a Spanish team basketball postcard autographed by Pau Gasol.

Launched from the foundation in the United States, this global sweepstakes will run until Saturday, January 6th, 2024, 11:00 pm PST. The winner will be announced on Thursday, January 11th, 2024, 12:00 pm PST.

For just a $20 donation, anyone can enter to win. This sweepstakes will help the Gasol Foundation continue to provide life-changing healthy habits for children and their families in the United States and Europe. All funds raised will go directly towards Gasol Foundation programs, making an impact on more children around the world. This fundraising initiative is one of the many actions the Gasol Foundation promotes to raise funds for its mission of childhood obesity prevention. 

Gasol Foundation USA is excited to welcome Nehal Raj to our Board of Directors. The mission of Gasol Foundation is to promote children’s wellness through programming, research, awareness, and advocacy, with a focus on eliminating childhood obesity. Every effort by the Gasol Foundation incorporates physical activity, healthy, sleep, and emotional well-being to improve the health of our children and their overall development. As we continue to expand our impact on children’s wellness, we are very much looking forward to the knowledge, insights and new ideas Nehal will provide in his new role with Gasol Foundation USA. 

Nehal Raj is Co-Managing Partner of TPG Capital, TPG’s flagship private equity business, and Co-Managing Partner of TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD),

TPG’s fund focused on flexible capital solutions for the technology industry. He also co-leads the firm’s investment activities in software and enterprise technology across its private equity platforms.

Nehal serves on the board of the following TPG investments: Boomi, Digital.ai, Kaseya, Lyric, New Relic, Nintex, Planview, and WellSky. Nehal was previously a director of a number of TPG investments prior to their successful exits, including: C3 AI, CCC Information Services, IQVIA, Intergraph, Wind River, and Zscaler.

Prior to joining TPG in 2006, Nehal was an investor at Francisco Partners and worked in the Tech M&A group at Morgan Stanley. He received an AB with Distinction in Economics and MS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa) and an MBA from Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar).

Nehal is also active with several non-profits. He serves on Stanford University’s H&S Council and Undergraduate Cabinet, the HBS Fund Council, and the Board of Trustees of San Francisco University High School. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of San Francisco Day School and the Advisory Board of Breakthrough San Francisco.

Outside of work, Nehal is an avid sports fan and sports investor. He is an investor / co-owner of Leeds United Football Club and Alpine F1 Team. Nehal splits his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles with his wife and two high school aged kids.

Nehal joins Board President, Pau Gasol; Board Vice President, Marc Gasol; President of The Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, Michele Chan Soon-Shiong; and President and CEO of The Molina Foundation, Dr. Martha Molina Bernadett.

Welcome on board, Nehal!

Gasol Foundation USA is currently featured in All Things Orange County Holiday Magazine Issue. The article highlights the ways in which we are serving Southern California children as we continue to expand our free health and wellness programming throughout Orange County.

To read the full article, click here:

As a partner in the Voices for Healthy Kids Coalition, Gasol Foundation USA has been a proud  supporter of California State Senator Nancy Skinner’s SB 348, Healthy Meals for Kids, and California State Senator Josh Newman’s SB 291, Daily Recess for All. 

We are excited to share that Governor Gavin Newsom signed both Senate bills into law, making California provide two free school meals a day to all public school students (SB 348), and making a half-hour of recess mandatory for all elementary school students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the state (SB 291). 

Gov. Newsom’s signing of SB 348 codifies President Biden’ standards so that California’s school meals will meet the nutrition guidelines for added sugar and salt recommended by America’s pediatricians, making California, once again, a national leader in the fight against diabetes and other health issues. SB 348 won unanimous approval in both the state Assembly and Senate. The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Gov. Gavin Newsom also signed Senate Bill 291 into law, making a half-hour of recess mandatory for all elementary school students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the state. legislation puts a very needed spotlight on the importance of recess time. The law goes into effect next school year.

Gasol Foundation USA is very proud of our contribution to move forward both SB 348 and SB291. As Gasol Foundation USA continues to expand our impact on children’s wellness by teaching proven healthy habits, we will continue supporting measures that improve health outcomes in the fight against the obesity epidemic. 

On Wednesday, September 20th, Gasol Foundation USA attended (for the first time in-person in 3 years) the Nutrition Access LA General Meeting held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Public Health. Organized by the LA County Nutrition Program, this meeting brought together distinguished leaders in public health to discuss food and nutrition policy and insecurity, share solutions, and engage with the nutrition community. 

Nutrition Access LA is a multi-sector coalition made up of partners from government, community-based organizations, advocacy, health care, school districts and other sectors working collaboratively to ensure all people in Los Angeles County have access to sufficient, nutritious, and affordable food.

According to the Food Insecurity in Los Angeles County Research Brief, food insecurity in L.A. County surged during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 34% of households experiencing food insecurity in 2020. Rates returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2001. But food insecurity has increased throughout 2022 and 2023. About 1 million L.A. County households are now food insecure.

Additional topics discussed during the coalition were techniques to advance food and nutrition policy related to nutrition insecurity, and methods to increase coordination and collaboration among Nutrition Access LA member organizations. 

Participating in coalitions such as the Nutrition Access LA General meeting are crucial. Other than providing the opportunity to connect and network with prominent members of the nutrition community, they enable Gasol Foundation USA to utilize the knowledge gained in order to educate children and families in our programs and initiatives. Providing them with information on nutrition assistance programs and other nutrition and food resources is significant as they continue to navigate through policy changes and other disparities. They, along with all people in Los Angeles County, deserve to have access to sufficient, nutritious, and affordable food.

Gasol Foundation is a proud partner in Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ Walk & Play LA held on Saturday May 20th. The 7th annual event is a family-friendly community event on the Santa Monica Pier that celebrates and supports the health of children. Walk & Play LA brings together the sports and wellness community for a 3K fun walk, family festival for all ages, and sports clinics hosted by professional athletes, including adaptive sports activities. Co-hosted by boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and host of the Ellen K Morning Show on KOST 103.5, Ellen K, Walk & Play LA was complete with live music, special guests, food, family fun under the sun and an exciting All-Star line-up in the Play Zone!

Children and parents who visited our Gasol Foundation booth enjoyed healthy games, prizes, and raffle collectibles. Thank you CHLA for the incredible opportunity to participate in such a fantastic event.

There’s still time to give to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles! Help raise critical funds in support of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and its mission to create hope and build healthier futures.

It was another great weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books for Gasol Foundation USA! As expected, the nation’s largest literary event had a big turnout on both Saturday, April 22nd – Sunday, April 23rd. We were thrilled to participate at the Festival of Books for the second consecutive year and have the opportunity to engage with the community. It was a (healthy) party in booth #553 as both kids and many adults enjoyed doing exercises as we promoted healthy habits. We provided healthy games, prizes and raffle collectibles on the University of Southern California campus where the festival took place.

Thank you to AltaMed pediatrician and Gasol Foundation USA Advisory Board member, Dr. Iian Shapiro, for visiting our booth! And congratulations to our raffle winners, Aditya and Benjamin, who each won an autographed item from our President, Pau Gasol!

Overall, kids of ages and families enjoyed these free family-friendly days on the main USC campus. Thank you Los Angeles Times and USC for hosting such a fantastic event. We look forward to participating next year and impacting even more families through heathy habits! 

Gasol Foundation USA is celebrating the Los Angeles Lakers’ retirement of number 16 to honor Lakers legend and Gasol Foundation USA Co-Founder, Pau Gasol, on March 7, 2023. As part of the celebration, Gasol Foundation USA is hosting a drawing for two game tickets and a meet-and-greet with Pau Gasol. One lucky winner will receive two tickets to Laker game/ceremony

and a meet-and-greet with Laker great Pau Gasol.

The retirement of Pau Gasol’s jersey by the Los Angeles Lakers will take place as the Lakers face the Memphis Grizzlies (Gasol’s first NBA team) at Crypto.com Arena.

The prize drawing for the two game tickets and meet-and-greet with Pau has begun, with entries at $25 each (multiple entries are allowed). The deadline to enter is noon PST on March 1, 2023, and the winner will be drawn at 4pm PST on March 1st. 

Pau played for the Lakers during seven seasons with three All Star selections–and helped lead Los Angeles to back-to-back championships. He is “humbled and excited” about this great recognition by such a great franchise. He is delighted to share this moment with his family and friends, and supporters of the Gasol Foundation. 

Gasol Foundation USA’s Galactic Sports winter programming, in collaboration with Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, will begin in January 2023 at the following locations: El Cariso Community Regional Park (Sylmar, CA), Del Aire Park (Hawthorne, CA), Pamela Park (Duarte, CA), Amelia Mayberry Park (Whittier, CA), Ruben F Salazar Park (East Los Angeles, CA), and Lennox Park (Lennox, CA). Register today – and we’ll see you there! 

Galactic Sports is a community-based program promoting sports and healthy habits. The goal of the program is to reduce risk of childhood obesity among children by engaging them in sports and promoting these healthy habits: diet, physical activity, sleep, and emotional well-being. Galactic Sports is for children ages 6-13. The activities are designed for beginners to gain confidence in the sport.

Gasol Foundation USA presented at the 2022 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting & Expo in Boston. Our presentation poster was based on the pilot of the ENERGY program and its impact on children’s physical activity and health in both the United States and Spain. We are proud to be invited to present at the APHA conference in order to share our childhood obesity work, engage with public health experts, and collaborate with other advocates. We look forward to expanding our research for the benefit of children’s health!

On Thursday, September 15th, Gasol Foundation celebrated our new partnership with the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation with a kick-off event held at Ruben F. Salazar Park. We are officially up and running for the Fall and currently providing our Galactic Sports programming at five Los Angeles County Regional parks (Ruben F. Salazar Park in East Los Angeles, El Cariso Community Regional Park in Sylmar, Pamela Park in Duarte, Sorensen Park in Whittier, and Lennox Park in Lennox) and the Los Angels Boys and Girls Club in Lincoln Heights.

We would like to thank Supervisor Hilda Solis and Director of the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, Norma Garcia, for recognizing our work to reduce the risk of childhood obesity through sports and healthy habits. 

The nation’s largest literary and cultural festival returned to the University of Southern California on Saturday, April 23rd and Sunday, April 24th, 2022, with indoor and outdoor events, hundreds of exhibitor booths, author signings, performances, and free activities.

Our organization was one of many exhibitor booths participating at the festival. And although here at Gasol Foundation we focus on all four healthy planets in our Healthy Galaxy- the main theme of our Festival of Books activation was physical activity. Because our booth was in the Children’s Zone at the festival, our goal was to create an interactive experience filled with activities for kids to have fun and learn.

Every child who visited our booth received a Gasol Foundation Coloring Book. Both children and adults all got the chance to spin our physical activity wheel and perform a specific low-intensity exercise or movement. We even had a life size cut out of Pau for families to take pictures with. And if that wasn’t enough, we included a raffle where individuals could enter for a chance to win an autographed basketball from Pau!

As you can see our booth was action -packed and filled with heathy activities! Most importantly, children and

their families had an absolute blast! Our first time participating at the Festival of Books was a success! We had an incredible time meeting so many new faces, sharing our #ZeroChildhoodObesity efforts, and empowering thousands of children and families through healthy habits! Thank you Los Angeles Times for the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing event. It was truly an unforgettable weekend.

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