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By almost any measure, 2020 was a terrible year. A global pandemic. Economic downturn.Racial injustice. In a year like this, it’s easy to lose sight of the good. Because despite all the challenges and heartache this year, there was still good to be found. I count myself lucky to have had a front row seat to one of the year’s best good news stories: the massive outpouring of solidarity and support for the global COVID-19 response being led by the World Health Organization (WHO). People around the world stepped up to help people they’ve never met, in places they’ve never been — in a big way.

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More than 650,000 people from just about every country in the world — together with hundreds of companies and philanthropies — raised more than $238 million to support WHO’s pandemic response. To put that in perspective, that is the second largest source of financial resources for WHO’s COVID-19 response, behind only the government of Germany. The funds were raised through the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, which the UN Foundation helped launch in March to offer individuals, companies, and private organizations away to directly support the WHO-led response. We at the UN Foundation have been completely blown away by the breadth of supporters and the depth of their generosity.

A woman in Ireland, Karen Forde, launched a squats challenge to drive donations to the Fund.S he did about 2,000 squats herself — which is downright impressive — and personally matched donations up to €1,000. Joshua “DiMez” DiMezza, a cancer survivor and devoted video gamer, got the online gaming community involved. By live-streaming his games over Facebook Gaming, he raised tens of thousands of dollars from his followers. Even celebrities — from Matthew Perry, to Post Malone, to Queen and Adam Lambert — used their platforms to garner support for the Fund. And in April, the global One World: Together at Home broadcast raised millions, with Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and the Rolling Stones among the musicians who performed. Jimmy Fallon and Lady Gaga even Face-timed Apple CEO TimCook live on-air to ask the company to donate — and it did. But Apple wasn’t the only company that stepped up — far from it. Facebook and Google offered matching donations and companies as diverse as TikTok, Adidas, GSK, and FIFA all contributed.

People around the world gave what they could despite the economic uncertainty. The average individual donation was about $60, and comments left by donors on the Facebook fundraiser show what solidarity looks like. People left heartwarming messages in multiple languages, thanking frontline workers and writing, “we are in this together” and “let’s help each other and save lives.” Everyone who donated made a difference, because every dollar counted. Solidarity drove this Fund. And quickly getting donated dollars to WHO and partners like theWorld Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, and UNICEF mean that solidarity has delivered help to those most in need.And I do mean that literally. In the critical early days of the pandemic, WHO and the WorldFood Programme teamed up to ship millions of items of essential supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE) and diagnostic kits to some of the hardest hit areas. Carried by cargo planes, these became known as “Solidarity Flights” — the first of which delivered enough supplies to help frontline workers care for over 30,000 patients across Africa. By late spring, thanks to the Fund’s support, they were able to rebuild a sophisticated global supply chain effort that has since distributed hundreds of millions of units of PPE and other supplies to 170 countries.And in Lebanon, a Syrian refugee by the name of Midia Said Sido learned how to make soap in her kitchen at home. Through a training course offered by the UN Refugee Agency and made possible with support from the Fund, Sido has been making soap for her family and neighbors –helping her community stay healthy and slow the virus’ spread. In a refugee camp in Kenya, a pregnant woman named Eliana was able to continue receiving prenatal care throughout the pandemic thanks to the UN Refugee Agency. They were able to keep the local hospital open and ensure maternal health services continued uninterrupted with Fund support. In October, Eliana gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Christena. There are countless more stories like Sido and Eliana’s, countless more people who have received life-saving assistance thanks to the kindness and profound generosity of donors from190 different countries who have chipped in.The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund represents humanity at its very best. And it’s a powerful reminder that even in the darkest of times, we can count on solidarity to see us through.

Kate Dodson is Vice President for Global Health at the UN Foundation.

Mike Pence has mostly kept quiet since Joe Biden’s win nearly two months back, clearly attempting to distance himself from his imploding former running mate while trying not to earn his ire. (The latter, some claim, hasn’t entirely worked.) But if he’s not quite a Trumpist, he’s still a Republican — a member of a party that tends to stick up for the rich while demonizing the poor. Sometimes Republican lawmakers say the quiet part loud. That’s what Pence did on Tuesday, when he tried to tarnish Democrats but only wound up making their policies seem humane.

The outgoing vice president was speaking at a rally in Florida for Turing Point USA, the campus conservative organization run by twentysomething — and recent object of derision for Geraldo Rivera — Charlie Kirk. During Pence’s speech, he tried to tear down Democrats, saying they “want to make rich people poorer, and poor people more comfortable.”

But to many, it wasn’t the sick burn Pence seemed to think. In fact, many found themselves agreeing with him, perhaps for the very first time.

If anything, some thought, Pence didn’t go far enough.

Some pointed out that many Democrats, sadly, do not believe in helping the poor more than the rich.

Some pointed out the obvious: that thinking that privileging the rich over the poor was bad is, to put it mildly, weird.

And Scrooge-ian.

And, perhaps most importantly, completely against the tenets of Pence’s faith, which he professes to hold dear.

In other news, Pence may not be going full Giuliani in trying to overturn the election, but he is suggesting that maybe there’s a chance.

But the reality is the sitting vice president will soon, like too much of the country under his watch, be out of a job.

Professional athletes love to try their hand at other sports. And why not? Most off them are at their absolute physical peak, and many of those fundamental skills translate into other sports. Not only that, these stars often lettered in other sports during their high school careers.

Some still harbor dreams of crossing over into other leagues, in the tradition of Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson. LeBron, for instance, has often talked wistfully about his dream of playing in the NFL. But those two-sport stars are a rare breed indeed, especially at the professional level.

And sometimes, efforts to venture into other sports can have disastrous results. Take Nate Robinson, for instance. The three-time dunk champ was, by all accounts, a very gifted high school football and even tried for the NFL after his NBA days were over. That didn’t quite work out, but it also didn’t stop Nate from searching out new adventures, the latest of which ended in a brutal knockout at the hands of YouTuber Jake Paul earlier this month during an exhibition boxing match.

Still, Nate is taking it all in stride, as evidenced by his latest commercial for StockX:

Here’s more from the official press release:

“It’s important for me to partner with brands that value authenticity and credibility. As a sneakerhead myself, I know StockX is legit. For me, this campaign is a way to show people that not everything is going to come easy; you’re not going to win every time, and that’s okay. If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s the importance of standing up and continuing to fight. Through this spot, ‘Find Your Win,’ and with the help of StockX, I want people to understand that you can take an L and still stand up prideful, with your chin high and a smile on your face, ready for the next venture.”

First of all, it’s good to see he’s doing well, health wise. For all the jokes made at his expense in the aftermath of the fight, there was reason for legitimate concern for his well-being, given the vicious blow that sent him to the mat unconscious. Second, Nate deserves major props for getting in the ring to begin with, but most important, showing poise in defeat and a willingness to embrace something that could haunt for years to come if he lets it.

By almost any measure, 2020 was a terrible year. A global pandemic. Economic downturn.Racial injustice. In a year like this, it’s easy to lose sight of the good. Because despite all the challenges and heartache this year, there was still good to be found. I count myself lucky to have had a front row seat to one of the year’s best good news stories: the massive outpouring of solidarity and support for the global COVID-19 response being led by the World Health Organization (WHO). People around the world stepped up to help people they’ve never met, in places they’ve never been — in a big way.

---

More than 650,000 people from just about every country in the world — together with hundreds of companies and philanthropies — raised more than $238 million to support WHO’s pandemic response. To put that in perspective, that is the second largest source of financial resources for WHO’s COVID-19 response, behind only the government of Germany. The funds were raised through the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, which the UN Foundation helped launch in March to offer individuals, companies, and private organizations away to directly support the WHO-led response. We at the UN Foundation have been completely blown away by the breadth of supporters and the depth of their generosity.

A woman in Ireland, Karen Forde, launched a squats challenge to drive donations to the Fund.S he did about 2,000 squats herself — which is downright impressive — and personally matched donations up to €1,000. Joshua “DiMez” DiMezza, a cancer survivor and devoted video gamer, got the online gaming community involved. By live-streaming his games over Facebook Gaming, he raised tens of thousands of dollars from his followers. Even celebrities — from Matthew Perry, to Post Malone, to Queen and Adam Lambert — used their platforms to garner support for the Fund. And in April, the global One World: Together at Home broadcast raised millions, with Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and the Rolling Stones among the musicians who performed. Jimmy Fallon and Lady Gaga even Face-timed Apple CEO TimCook live on-air to ask the company to donate — and it did. But Apple wasn’t the only company that stepped up — far from it. Facebook and Google offered matching donations and companies as diverse as TikTok, Adidas, GSK, and FIFA all contributed.

People around the world gave what they could despite the economic uncertainty. The average individual donation was about $60, and comments left by donors on the Facebook fundraiser show what solidarity looks like. People left heartwarming messages in multiple languages, thanking frontline workers and writing, “we are in this together” and “let’s help each other and save lives.” Everyone who donated made a difference, because every dollar counted. Solidarity drove this Fund. And quickly getting donated dollars to WHO and partners like theWorld Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, and UNICEF mean that solidarity has delivered help to those most in need.And I do mean that literally. In the critical early days of the pandemic, WHO and the WorldFood Programme teamed up to ship millions of items of essential supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE) and diagnostic kits to some of the hardest hit areas. Carried by cargo planes, these became known as “Solidarity Flights” — the first of which delivered enough supplies to help frontline workers care for over 30,000 patients across Africa. By late spring, thanks to the Fund’s support, they were able to rebuild a sophisticated global supply chain effort that has since distributed hundreds of millions of units of PPE and other supplies to 170 countries.And in Lebanon, a Syrian refugee by the name of Midia Said Sido learned how to make soap in her kitchen at home. Through a training course offered by the UN Refugee Agency and made possible with support from the Fund, Sido has been making soap for her family and neighbors –helping her community stay healthy and slow the virus’ spread. In a refugee camp in Kenya, a pregnant woman named Eliana was able to continue receiving prenatal care throughout the pandemic thanks to the UN Refugee Agency. They were able to keep the local hospital open and ensure maternal health services continued uninterrupted with Fund support. In October, Eliana gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Christena. There are countless more stories like Sido and Eliana’s, countless more people who have received life-saving assistance thanks to the kindness and profound generosity of donors from190 different countries who have chipped in.The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund represents humanity at its very best. And it’s a powerful reminder that even in the darkest of times, we can count on solidarity to see us through.

Kate Dodson is Vice President for Global Health at the UN Foundation.

Runways shuttered, supply chains disrupted, distribution methods delayed, creative visions compromised — like most industries this year, there wasn’t a single facet of the fashion world that wasn’t flipped upside the f*ck down by COVID-19. From the people growing the cotton that turns into your tee shirt to the way you shop for it, the entire style ecosystem was dramatically altered and will remain in flux for the foreseeable future. The chaos caused many upstart streetwear labels, which often live and die by the success of a single season, to come face to face with the biggest challenges they’ve had to overcome since first starting out.

But it also saw them doing what they do best: responding and adapting to a rapidly changing world in order to survive. Hustling and making bold moves to stay afloat.

“I don’t think anything has gone according to ‘plan’ this year.” Joey Gollish of Mr. Saturday says. “We’ve stayed really focused on our goals and vision but allowed the constantly evolving landscape to inform our plans on how to get there.”

The fashion industry is massive, generating as much as $2.5 trillion in global annual revenue in 2019 alone, according to a recent analysis by McKinsey & Company. But the interconnected global network of production, marketing, and retail processes is also what makes it so difficult for businesses to plan ahead at a time when one country might be loosening safety measures while another is buttoning up.

“Supply chain, shipping delays, distribution, economic downturn… I don’t think there is a brand out there that hasn’t felt the pandemic in some way or another,” says Marc Keiser of Los Angeles-based streetwear label Keiser Clark. “We had a really big season coming out of Autumn/Winter 20, expanding greater into Asia and Europe. Unfortunately, as a new brand in those retailers’ matrix, we saw a lot of cancellations early on in the pandemic.”

Problems up and down the supply chain continue to plague brands for the coming year. Keiser Clark had to forgo their entire Spring Summer 2021 collection and push it to Autumn/ Winter 21, a decision that was painful, but one that Marc Keiser ultimately felt was the right move.

“We are facing an even greater challenge in our supply chain than before,” says Equihua founder and head designer Brenda Equihua. “Longer lead times, higher costs, and scarcity of supplies. All our vendors are locally based and some of them have closed, so we are seeking new suppliers and contractors… Our product development and production also slowed down substantially because we are social distancing and working with an even smaller team. We are not doing many photoshoots and studio visits because we want to be socially responsible. It has really tested us, but we are so lucky to still be here.”

Social distancing also had a tremendous effect on the collaborative process of designing physical products, especially when trying to match the ravenous (and discerning) streetwear and style customer base has come to expect.

“The whole collaborative aspect of working together has completely changed,” says Teddy Fresh CEO and lead designer Hila Klein. “We like to brainstorm — get in the room with different people and departments and work with the pieces in our hands. Finding ways to make up for that and work around it has pushed us to work together differently.”

The Teddy Fresh team now relies heavily on Slack or convening over the phone and works through a more laborious process that involves sending packages between departments until they reach Klein at her home, where she fits production samples on herself and sends copious photos and notes, which then get sent back to production for fine-tuning, and, finally, back to the full group for feedback and an eventual final product.

“It’s broken the creative process into segmented pieces that we have to move around rather than have everyone gathered around the table working together,” Klein says. “Nevertheless, we still work closely and keep all the stages of the process in place, even though it’s done physically apart.”

Changes to the creative process and the numerous supply chain issues are undoubtedly a huge hurdle for labels to jump, but ultimately fashion is a creative industry. Designers are eager and nimble ideators when forced to rethink how they do things. That opens the door to some aspect of a silver lining for the brands.

“Prior to COVID, TOMBOGO garments were designed using unconventional materials such as bubble wrap,” says TOMBOGO‘s Tommy Bogo. “Since COVID, quarantine, and stay at home orders, we’ve shifted our design approach and the materials used to create more casual garments for the user to wear whether they’re at home or out and about. While we’ve reeled back on experimental materials, we’ve emphasized more innovation in our silhouettes and the functionalities included in these garments.”

Brands have also had to shift the way they release new products.

“Digital activations, virtual events, and great content are more important than ever as we move forward without live showrooms, pop-ups, and fashion shows,” Bogo continues. “The pandemic has influenced me to think even more creatively from a marketing perspective on how to present new products without being able to physically present them.”

The new changes that the industry is facing have also had a profound effect on the way some brands see each other and the fashion industry at large. The “we’re in this together” aspects have been underscored, while the competitive aspects have taken a back seat. In short, folks in a high-powered, demanding industry have gotten the gift of wide-angle perspective.

“This year for the first time since I started Keiser Clark, I let go of comparing myself to other brands and other designers and allowed myself to be proud of where I’m at and what I’m doing at 29 years old,” says Marc Keiser. “The business takeaway this year: a further reminder that the core of every business, every brand, is people, and to make sure you’re showing up for those people who support you. From our customers, stylists, retailers/buyers, manufactures, other designers, the UPS driver who picks up our packages… We are all dealing with this pandemic. Life is busy, the fashion industry is busy, but impacting someone else’s life for the better, that’s infinite.”

“Maybe we don’t want to be in 100 stores?” Says Joey Gollish. “We’re working more closely than ever with our retail partners, to create unique experiences and offerings for each of them. It gives us more control over our brand identity while creating a more holistic partnership with our retailers, which is really how it should be.”

That rethinking of customer experience and desired scale always weighs heavily on young brands. In 2020, those conversations evolved at lightning speed.

“I feel a deep sense of responsibility to give work to the people around me because everyone is struggling,” says Brenda Equihua. “My challenge will be in navigating our combined needs, and also making sure we are putting health first. I feel really great about our ability to communicate directly to the folx that help support our brand, it’s a matter more of how we cope with changes internally.”

One of the most effective ways that brands have been able to stay afloat this year is through their full-hearted embrace of e-commerce platforms, which almost every brand we spoke to credit for the survival of their companies. According to statistics collected by Data Feed Watch, e-commerce generated worldwide revenue of $481 billion in 2018, $545 billion in 2019, with revenue projected to reach $713 billion by 2022. A whopping 77% of people in South Korea made an online fashion purchase in 2019, like it or not, e-commerce is the way of the future when it comes to shopping.

“The shift has made our e-commerce operation stronger,” says Hila Klein, “While previously we had some large wholesale accounts, we saw this direct approach as the future anyway, with malls and physical stores being things of the past. The pandemic fast-forwarded us ten years over six months.”

As uncertainly continues to surround the pandemic, so too does it cloud the future of our favorite fashion labels. But if any industry is equipped to handle the cultural shift that is a global pandemic, it’s this one, thanks in large part to the hard-working and always innovative designers shaping the scene as we know it.

For a few days back in November, people who followed along with the democratic process in the United States found themselves entranced by a pair of cable news channels: CNN and MSNBC. Both had dudes who stood at touchscreens — John King for the former, Steve Kornacki for the latter — who gave detailed breakdowns of where votes were coming in and said stuff like “Maricopa County, Arizona” a whole heck of a lot.

Both networks have found ways to keep them occupied outside of the world of electoral politics ever since Joe Biden became the President-elect of the United States. Kornacki has a gig on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, breaking down the playoff odds for the various teams jostling for the chance to compete for the Lombardi Trophy. King, meanwhile, is apparently more of a basketball guy, so he teamed up with CNN colleague Wolf Blitzer to get fans caught up on all the goings on during the NBA offseason.

King and Blitzer took to the big boards in The Situation Room to explain a number of moves players made during the NBA’s offseason. There is also a very silly IcyHot joke about Chris Paul in here and King, a Celtics fan, declaring that despite Doc Rivers being their coach, he will never cheer for the Sixers. It’s pretty good!

This is not the first time these two have joined forces for an NBA thing this offseason — Blitzer is a well-documented Washington Wizards fan, so the two took to their spots next to the big boards to announce the team’s schedule for the first half of the NBA season. There is no word on whether noted Philadelphian Jake Tapper has any plans to respond to the Sixers dig that King got in here.

Famously, Breaking Bad was about the transformation of a mild-mannered high-school teacher named Walter White into his alter-ego, a murderous meth kingpin known as Heisenberg. It was also on Breaking Bad where we met Jimmy McGill, who had already begun to inhabit his alter-ego, Saul Goodman. Better Call Saul, in fact, is essentially a show that reverse-engineers the transformation of Jimmy, a low-level grifter, into a sleazy defense lawyer for powerful criminal figures.

But Walter White and Jimmy McGill aren’t the only characters who have gone through drastic character transformations. Back when Saul began, Rhea Seehorn’s Kim Wexler was an entry-level attorney with a too-tight ponytail and a boyfriend she often disapproved of. By the time the fifth season came to an end, however, Kim Wexler had decided to sabotage the livelihood of her former boss, Howard Hamlin, in order to enrich herself (so that she can pursue her career in pro bono work). By the end of the episode, Kim was pointing finger guns at people and embarking on a scheme that will likely explain where Kim Wexler is during the Breaking Bad timeline. Dead? In prison? On the run? Or running her own pro bono firm using the proceeds from the Sandpiper deal?

“Do you see a very dark side of her there? Yes, you do,” Seehorn explained to Deadline after a recent virtual screening for the fifth season finale. “He brought Saul Goodman into our relationship; she’s bringing in this other person,” Seehorn says. “There’s this seething, self-righteous martyrdom going on.”

She may not get an official name for her alter ego, but it’s clear that another version of Kim Wexler is about to enter the fray, and like the audience, Saul Goodman is “mystified” by her transformation, Bob Odenkirk added.

Will the final season see the official return of Giselle Saint Claire, the alter-ego of Kim Wexler introduced back in the second season? We probably won’t find out until late in 2021, at the earliest, although there will at least be more episodes this season to keep us glued to our screens.

Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould also told Deadline that they’re nearly finished writing the season (last we heard, they had written about half), and they hope to “begin shooting early next year,” although when the show airs will be up to “the fates and to Sony.”

“We are in a zoom room every day. We got to meet for two weeks at the beginning,” Gould explains. “For the season — it’s like trying to dance in quicksand. It’s a handicap in my book to be working remotely, but I love what we came up with.” I’m sure that audiences will love what he came up with, too.

Source: Deadline

It’s officially eggnog season. But making eggnog can be a bit daunting. If you want to go old-school, it takes days, a gajillion separated eggs, and a lot of whisking. We’re not here to go all Martha Stewart and re-create that. We’re here to show you a solid eggnog cocktail that you can make in about a minute.

The key ingredients of eggnog are, obviously, eggs. Also alcohol. And nutmeg, vital to any good nog. Ground nutmeg doesn’t really do the trick. You need to be grinding nutmeg freshly from whole nutmeg nuts (you should be able to get this in most any grocery spice aisle, certainly larger Whole Foods). This is going to make or break the classic eggnog flavor of the final product.

Beyond that, use good, heavy cream. I’m using a 31 percent milkfat cream. You can use a lighter cream at 12 or 15 percent if you’re into a thinner nog, but eggnogs are meant to be thicc. Also, you’re cutting this cream down with egg, brandy, and water (from the ice). That means, it’ll thin a lot by the time it gets into the glass. So, go heavy. I’m also using a large organic egg. If you’re using raw eggs, don’t skimp on quality. I know that sounds obvious, but it needs to be said.

Lastly, there’s the booze. I like a nutty and bold Spanish brandy. That’s just me. You can 100 percent make this a nice bourbon, rye, Tennessee whiskey, sweet scotch, Irish whiskey, or well-aged dark rum. In fact, I’ve been known to do this Sazerac style by using half-brandy and half-bourbon because … why not? It’s Christmas time after all.

Okay, let’s get shaking!

Eggnog

Ingredients:

• 1.5-oz. brandy
• 0.5-oz. simple syrup
• 1 large egg
• 3-oz. heavy cream
• Pinch of ground clove
• Freshly ground nutmeg
• Ice

You’ll Need:

• Cocktail shaker
• Strainer
• Rocks glass
• Nutmeg mill, grinder, or microplane
• Jigger

Method:

The first thing I do is fill my rocks glass with ice — just enough to fill it.

I’m using a standard Boston Shaker for this drink and that’s where we’re building. I add in the brandy and syrup. Next, I crack in the egg, add the cream, and finish off with the spice. I add the pinch of ground clove and about four cranks from my nutmeg mill (about half-a-teaspoon).

A word of warning: the drink will look like a mess before you shake it. Don’t worry.

Next, I add in enough ice to fill the shaker 3/4. I affix the top and shake vigorously over my shoulder for 30 solid seconds. You’re emulsifying the yolk to the cream and frothing the white at the same time. Do not short the shake. The outside of the shaker should start to frost over. When that happens, shake a few more seconds and you’re done.

I use the cocktail strainer to pour the nog over the ice in my rocks glass. Alternatively, you can pour this into a chilled coupe sans ice if you want an even more cocktail-y experience.

The last step is to garnish the drink with more freshly ground nutmeg. I crank about two more cranks over the drink and it’s ready to drink!

Bottom Line:

This is really tasty and light. It’s not heavy-cream eggnog you get in those glass bottles at the grocery store. It’s hefty, yes, but has an airy edge thanks to the egg white that helps it go down super easily.

The nutmeg really is the clincher to this drink. It adds that eggnog-y essence that you’re looking for.

This drink is lush, velvety, airy, and full of holiday vibes. Plus it’s easy. God knows we all deserve a little ease this year.

I Used to Go Here (HBO, 9:45pm EST) — Gillian Jacobs and Jemaine Clement star in this Andy Samberg-produced movie about a 30-something novelist (Kate Conklin) who may be a one-hit wonder. Following a traumatic breakup, she ends up heading back to her alma mater, where she finds herself entrenched in all kinds of college-age drama after an old professor invites her for a homecoming.

Swamp Thing (CW, 8:00pm EST) — Swamp Thing can’t believe what he learns about his own existence, and he’s pissed off, naturally, so he takes vengeance upon those who hunt him. Don’t mess with Mr. Tubers!

Tell Me A Story (CW, 9:00pm EST) — Ashley reconsiders a personal and professional obligation after Beau’s major accident, and Simone’s searching for answers while Jackson’s working on his sobriety.

In case you missed these recent highlights:

Song Exploder: Volume 2 (Netflix) — Following Volume 1’s popularity (with a line-up including Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, R.E.M., and Ty Dolla $ign), more of the world’s greatest musicians arrive to divulge secrets about how they created one of their tunes. This round features Dua Lipa (whose Future Nostalgia made our Top Albums of 2020 list), Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, and Natalia Lafourcade. They’re all sharing insight into their inspirations while breaking down the layers of their highlighted songs.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix film) — Chadwick Boseman left this world far too soon, but before he departed, he left us a lasting performance alongside Oscar winner Viola Davis. She portrays the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” and he’s her ambitious trumpeteer, Levee. Together with his fellow musicians, they will conquer a blazing hot 1920s Chicago recording session, and Levee will help inspire his colleagues to unleash truth-revealing stories that will alter their lives and, possibly, history itself. It’s a testament to the blues’ transformative power and adapted from two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play of the same name with Denzel Washington onboard as producer.

The Stand: Premiere (CBS All Access) — Constant Readers will appreciate this fresh take on Stephen King’s epic novel, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest post-apocalyptic works of fiction. Those who are afraid of checking into pandemic land can rest assured that the show feels like an unlikely antidote to the hellish things that humanity has seen this year. The show also goes non-linear in order to avoid wading through the superflu like the book did, since this isn’t really a “pandemic” story but one about the rebuilding of society and the archetypal battle between good and evil.

Cody Zeller’s timing for starting a charity, unfortunately, could not have been much better. Just months before COVID-19 hit the shores of the United States of America, the Charlotte Hornets’ veteran big man started Like a Child, a charity designed to help out youngsters wherever they may be. Shortly after his first major initiative took place, in which he wore special-designed sneakers to highlight a number of charities in March, the NBA’s season was postponed.

The downtime for Zeller, whose Hornets missed out on the NBA’s Orlando Bubble, gave him plenty of time to sit down and hammer out some details related to the organization. It also gave him time to reflect on its purpose and how he could continue to impact the lives of children going forward.

Ahead of the start of the Hornets’ season 2020-21 season, which tips off on Wednesday evening, Dime sat down with Zeller to discuss the charity.

Can you take me inside starting Like a Child? What the impetus was for that and why you decided “November 2019 is the time for me to do this”?

Yeah, I think starting from scratch, I think when I got drafted into the NBA, I knew I’d have kind of a platform to impact others and obviously, fell in love with the city of Charlotte right away. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to focus my energy — like, heart disease is in my family. There’s a few things that I thought I might be interested in, and the Hornets do a great job exposing us to a little bit of everything, just with the appearances that our team makes.

So, my rookie year, as kind of a rookie duty, our veterans put a Mario and Luigi costume in my locker and the other rookie’s locker and told us we had to go visit the children’s hospital. And so, I visited the children’s hospital. It was my first time visiting, and I kind of expected for it to be kind of dark and depressing, just because I know the kids are sick. There’s a reason why they’re at the children’s hospital.

But it was actually very much the opposite. Every time that I visit since then, [the] kids are always so positive and energetic. They’re singing and dancing and you would never know that they’re in a tight spot. So, I think right away, I think I finally was like, this is where I want to focus my energy, is helping kids in different ways. So, last year we did the 501(c)(3) non-profit. Came up with the name, Like a Child, and kind of just did a crash course last year. Did four pairs of shoes, custom shoes, and picked for a variety of organizations that help children in a variety of ways. So, the children’s hospital here in Charlotte, the children’s hospital in Indianapolis, Big Brothers Big Sisters, which Kemba Walker had helped out with a lot, when he was here. And then TAPS, which helps kids and families of fallen soldiers.

So, last year was kind of fun. It was a little bit of a, like I said, crash course to see what worked and what didn’t. And then, I’ve had a lot of free time during quarantine so, we worked on getting the website up, we got a logo and it looks like a legit nonprofit now. So, I’m pretty proud of it. And then, we’re just putting together probably another four or five pairs of shoes this year to highlight a couple of different non-profits, once again, that all help children in a variety of ways.

It sounds like it’s something, not necessarily what it ended up being, but it sounds like doing some kind of charitable organization has been kicking around in your head for a while. Is that a fair read on it?

Yeah, I think that’s true. And like I said, I wanted to give back, but I wasn’t real sure how I wanted to. And the way I came up with the kind of kicks for kids was, the NFL does their My Cleats, My Cause. One week, each year, all the players design a shoe for their foundation and the NBA has never done anything like that. So, I just kind of stole the idea from them. And there was an awesome artist here in town that kind of customizes the shoes. He does a lot of the work for the Panthers players for that week.

So, I got in contact with him and he does a lot of the creative stuff. He does a lot of the work. And obviously, I’m going to wear a pair of shoes in the game anyway, so it’s kind of an easy way for me to give back. So I was kind of trying to come up with something unique because, everyone does a golf outing or a gala, which I might do down the road, but I just kind of wanted to come up with something unique.

And what was it about last year that made it right for that to be the time to start? Was there a moment, was there an event, was there anything specific that made it all click? Or was it just like, listen, this is year seven for me in Charlotte, it just feels right, right now.

I’ve been kind of brainstorming on it for a while. And I’ve given just, for me personally, to different organizations here in Charlotte. Even a couple of years ago, I did a partnership with a law firm here in town. And for every rebound that I got during the season, $10 went to the foundation of my choice, which, I picked the children’s hospital.

And so, I’ve done different kinds of partnerships throughout here in Charlotte that I’m able to kind of give to the children’s hospital or other organizations. But, I think it finally got to the point where I was like, you know what, I think I want to do this even after my career is over. So, kind of get it started now, while I’m still playing and then be able to kind of continue that, even after my career is over. I’ve learned a lot about the nonprofit world. Obviously, I have a lot of good people that have helped me along the way, because it is a lot to get the 501(c)(3) clarification. And then, all the other stuff, like I said, the website, the logo, and all the design stuff. So, I’ve had a lot of good help as well.

What are some of the like specific things that you didn’t comprehend coming into this? Because the way you’re making it sound — you can correct me if I’m wrong — you were like, I’m going to start a charity, and then, instead of that being it, that was just yard one of the 99 yard football field ahead of you.

Yeah, no. It’s true. Like I said, I had a lot of good people that have helped me kind of navigate some of those waters. And also, my brother has his own nonprofit, he does Christian basketball camps back in Indiana. And so, he started that about 10 years ago. So, he’s very familiar with it. And my mom does a lot of the paperwork for him. And so, both of them have a little bit of experience with it. I lean on them a lot as well, just to kind of bounce stuff off of them.

But it’s like, every little detail of it is up to me. Like, you can kind of customize it however you want, whether it’s operating or not operating, whether I want to raise money, how I want to do the website, who’s going to kind of run the website, is there an email that’s attached, setting up a whole new email address. We have a grant program on there so, coming up with just, like, what’s on the grant, how does the grant get uploaded, everything else. It’s been a full quarantine project. But, like I said, I’ve had a lot of good people that have kind of done a lot of the heavy lifting for me. So, I feel very blessed to have them on my side.

And what’s the best piece of advice that your brother has given you about taking this on?

I think, not specifically advice that he’s given. I think it’s been really cool for me to see the impact that he’s had with his non-profit. The basketball is a draw, obviously, in Indiana and our family has a recognizable name. So, basketball is the draw, but they also teach family values and how to shake someone’s hand and how to treat people right. And kind of teach values with it.

I think I’ve just been able to see the impact that he’s had on so many kids, whether they’re all the way back to elementary school or all the way through high school. I think I’ve been able to see the impact that he’s had through basketball. And I want to do something similar in a different space. But to be able to give back and have that same … it’s very fulfilling work, for sure.

Looking at the mission statement, “Like a Child strives to celebrate and preserve the joy, curiosity, and innocence of childhood by supporting organizations which provide resources for children and families to achieve their highest potential.” Without realizing it, this ended up being quite the year for needing to promote that specific thing. No?

Yeah, for sure. And even when I came up with this, people have described me as being like a child, which I take as a huge compliment. But I think that, if we all can think back to our childhood, I used to spend hours on a little Nerf hoop on the back of the door. And I used to have a great imagination. I used to play full NBA games, with the jump ball and the three pointers, block shots, everything else. I’d just be playing alone in the living room. But I used to spend hours doing that. And then, every once in a while, my brothers would join me, and we bonded over that.

Some of my favorite memories are playing HORSE against my brothers on the old Nerf hoop. I think everyone has fun childhood memories of that. And even kids now, they don’t know what it’s like to be an adult. So as adults, we grow up and we have all these responsibilities. We provide for our family, we learn about taxes, and climbing the corporate ladder and all these pressures that we have as adults. When, as we were kids, all we wanted to do is play on our little Nerf hoop and take naps all day. Life was simple back then.

So, I think in that aspect, even as adults, I think we have something to learn, being more like a child. And also just the innocence of children. They don’t know anything about race or social status or anything else. It’s all stuff that we learn when we get older. So, that’s another kind of root behind the, Like a Child, name.

Can you just really quickly take me inside of this grant program, what you have going on with it and why you decided this is the best way to build on what the organization is already doing?

Yeah. So, like I said, we’re going to do five pairs of shoes and probably a $15,000 donation for each pair of shoes. And we’re going to pick five different nonprofits that help children in a variety of ways. And obviously, I’ve been exposed to a lot here in Charlotte — organizations, like I said, the children’s hospital. So I’ve partnered with them in the past, but there’s also a lot of nonprofits either in Charlotte or in Indiana or around the country that are doing really good work, but maybe I just haven’t heard of them yet.

And so, we wanted to offer a little bit of a grant program to expose ourselves and give them a chance to get involved as well. So anyway, we’ll pick one or more of those grant applicants and then I’ll wear a custom pair of shoes to highlight the work they’re doing and then also make a donation through the foundation.

I want to ask about 2020 and the impact that it has had on you. Like, how does it feel to launch a charity just before its stated purpose has really become more important than ever?

I obviously didn’t plan it that way, but it’s been perfect timing. And I think it’s been really cool to see how different organizations have handled COVID because obviously, some have handled it better than others. I think that the best organizations have taken care of their employees and done as much as they can to kind of give back in a time of need, rather than cover their own butt, if you want to put it that way. So, it’s been really cool to see other organizations that have stepped up and said, “We’re going to take care of our employees.” Even Michael Jordan, he was one of the first to say, “We’re going to take care of employee salaries and we’re going to help out however we can.”

It’s really cool to see when times are really tough, organizations or individuals give back even more, when a lot of times, a lot of businesses are losing money right now, but it says a lot about the business if they’re giving back at the same time, just because there’s so many people out there that are hurting. And that has been my whole takeaway — obviously, we’ve missed some games last year. Our season got cut short last year. Fingers crossed that it works out this year but, in the big scheme of things, there’s people that are a lot worse off than us. So, there’s always someone out there that has it worse off than you. So, I really sympathize for everyone that’s lost jobs or illnesses, lost family members. It’s really a tough time for everyone. So, it’s cool to see everyone come together and try to get through it together.

Yeah. And then with kids specifically, I don’t have children, I have friends with children. I have relatives with children. But it feels like a lot of kids have been put into situations where they have to grow up faster than any kid should. Have you noticed that and have you felt some kind of like added responsibility, as someone who works with children to be like, let’s do whatever we can, amid all of this, to make sure kids, even in the face of this unspeakable terror, can still have as normal of a childhood as they can, given the circumstances?

Yeah. You’re spot on. I don’t have kids either, but I’m the cool uncle for now. Luke has a seven-year-old little boy and Tyler has a three-year-old boy and a six-month-old little girl. And the same thing, I have a lot of other friends and family that have little kids and the kids aren’t able to … a lot of them aren’t able to go to school. If they are able to go to school, they’re missing sports. High school kids are missing graduations and prom. And there’s just so many fun, childhood memories that people are missing out on, even if it’s just riding your bike over to a friend’s house or going to the pool or whatever it is.

There’s so many fun memories that I had of being a kid, especially in the summer, of just playing with neighbors and stuff that, because of COVID, kids aren’t allowed to do. So, that’s another huge part of Like a Child, is to kind of preserve that childhood and hopefully give them as much of a childhood experience as they can, even though currently, they’re kind of missing out on some of those experiences. So, it’s another way that we’re going to try to give back.

So again, looking at the work that you do through the lens of 2020, has it shaped any opinions, ideas about things that you could do in ’21, in 2022, as this grows?

Yeah. I think the urgency has just been put on it that what we have here with targeting children is a huge need right now, and I think, even going into 2021 and beyond. So, I think if anything, I think it’s added urgency to what we’re doing and hopefully we can have an impact immediately. But, hopefully we can kind of broaden the impact that we can have in the future. So yeah, if anything, it’s just added urgency.

Did this year teach you anything that you didn’t already know about how to leverage what you have as an athlete into something bigger and more important and more impactful than just the joy that you guys bring into people’s lives by playing basketball at a high level?

Yeah. I think back to the children’s hospital visits, that always puts things into perspective for me because, when I see the joy and the happiness that the kids have at the children’s hospital, it puts things back into perspective that, whatever’s going on in my world, that I stress about, whether it’s a bad shooting night or a twisted ankle, whatever it is. In the big scheme of things, there’s more to life than just what happens, win or lose, on the basketball court.

I do have that platform and athletes in general have that platform of, when I step out on the court or on TV and, even if it’s just something as simple as customizing a pair of shoes, can have a big impact — I’m going to wear shoes, anyway. But, just to do a little drawing on the side can have a big impact because we’re on TV, we’re on SportsCenter, we’re on wherever. And just to kind of add some awareness to some of these good non-profits to some of the work they’re doing.

On the perception of athletes, do you view yourself and your brothers and sisters in sport as people who have a responsibility to do things for your community?

Yeah, I think so. My high school coach used to always quote Luke 12:48, “To whom much is given, much is required.” And he used to use that on me as was yelling at me during practice, because I have the given a lot. I mean, seven feet tall, I have athletic ability. So, on the basketball side of things, I’ve been given a lot. But also, with my platform, financially, my resources, I think I have been giving a lot. So, I think I do take a lot of responsibility and kind of giving back and doing whatever I can to help others. And like we discussed, I kind of have a soft spot in my heart for kids and children, just so they can have kind of the same childhood that I had of a lot of positive memories and a lot of fun to be a kid.

What is the message that you have for the children who have had a really tough go of it this year? As we finally get to this point where like, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is something like a vaccine on the horizon, and life may not end up being normal by the time we get to 2021, but we can start to go back to experiencing the kind of things that we should be experiencing?

Yeah. It’s tough for kids because a lot of them don’t understand. Like I said, my seven year old, little nephew doesn’t understand why he can’t give hugs to his grandma or to my mom, people like that. So, there’s some things that just breaks your heart. The kids can’t experience or don’t understand about the virus or why you can’t touch or why you can’t hug or why you can’t kind of have social interactions with loved ones. So that kind of breaks your heart. But, I hope kids come out of it with a better appreciation for being able to do that stuff, to be able to be around their friends or be able to go to school, little things like that. So hopefully, if there’s anything positive that can come out of it with the kids, hopefully, they’re excited to get back to kind of normal life, eventually.