For former CFL player Karim Grant, the seed to get involved in community transformation was planted at an early age.
When he was 15, his uncle got him a part-time job at the playgrounds in Regent Park, a public housing neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. Grant witnessed a lot of crack cocaine use among young people. Shootings and robberies were rampant.
Grant didn’t like what he was seeing, and made a silent commitment to be better and set an example for others.
“I knew that my surroundings didn’t really (have to) dictate who I was,” Grant said. “I was able to see life differently and understand that not everybody has it as easy as other people. I wanted to be able to rise above the things I was seeing and be there for those who didn’t have anyone to look up to.”
Part of that drive was a product of Grant’s upbringing. Growing up in a single-parent home in North York and later Scarborough, he saw how his mother struggled to keep the household in order. In school, he fell in love with sports — first soccer, then basketball and football.
After earning a partial scholarship to play football at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., Grant was selected in the second round of the 2001 CFL draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He played two seasons with them and one with the Montreal Alouettes.
But he felt sports was just a vehicle to his true calling: helping young people — many of them high school or college dropouts — in underprivileged communities across the GTA strive for a better life. For nearly two decades, he has dedicated time as a volunteer basketball and football coach. A number of kids under his tutelage have gone on to study and play in Canada and the U.S. on scholarships.
Grant calls the knowledge he passes along “a cheat code.”
“Imagine if I can show somebody how they can win at life without having to go through the hardships and pitfalls that other people may have gone through, the success they can achieve by following certain paths,” he said.
One of his motivations was the birth of son Kaion Julien-Grant, when Grant was 20 and just finishing high school. He would write “Play like Kaion is watching” on his wrist before every game.
“His birth meant that I had something to live for, a legacy that I had to fulfil. He’s also the reason why I left the game early as I wanted to make sure I was there for him in every aspect of his development,” Grant said of his son, who has played with the Montreal Alouettes for the last four seasons.
“That’s how I became a coach as I loved to be able to change children’s lives at a very formative part of their lives, so that they can see where they want to go. Sports is not the answer, it’s just a vessel they can use to achieve success.”
Grant’s dedication to helping others is in the same spirit behind the Star’s Santa Claus Fund, and with it the Proudfoot Corner of the Star’s sports department.
The Santa Fund has been around since 1906. This year’s goal is to raise $1.5 million for 50,000 gift boxes that will go to financially vulnerable kids, ages one to 12, across Brampton, Mississauga, Toronto, Ajax, Pickering, Oshawa and Whitby. The boxes will be delivered by a team of more than 1,000 volunteers. Each box contains a hoodie, hat, mittens, socks, book, small toy, treat, toothpaste and toothbrush. Infants will get clothing, socks and other accessories.
Readers who donate to Proudfoot Corner will see their names published in bold on these pages, a long-standing tradition.
On the Corner
Two donations are in memory of legendary Corner contributor Mort Greenberg: $200 from Paul Carson and $25 from Ann-Marie Neville … There’s $25 each from Karen Cadham of Toronto; Dorothy and Dale Mitchell of Scarborough; Warren Watson of Brechin, Ont.; and Bruno Marchio, in memory of Carmela Marchio … Gordon and Nadine Smith donate $200 in memory of “our daughter Sari” … Larry Bilokrely chips in $61 in memory of longtime Red Wings fan Bob Bilokrely … Richard Landry gives $100 in memory of the Cardinal Leger Lancers “gone too soon” … Roman and Lilliana Boychuk of Mississauga sends $250 … North York’s Rob Lynch and Lora Santoro give $35 … Downsview’s Daniel and Dionne Cude are back with $105 ... Margaret Starkey of Etobicoke delivers $100, as does John Butkovich dedicated to “my young niece Ella-Grace Butkovich, who after starting to skate first in Dubai, has joined her first hockey team: The Huntsville Sting.”
Robert Spilak sends $200 in honour of Santa Claus … Lori Jackson of Ajax gives $105 in memory of Keith and Barb Adams … Markham’s Bruce Barnett is back with $125 “on behalf of 1950s children educated at Jesse Ketchum School” … Other longtime supporters: Oakville’s Lary Kreutzwiser with $100; Maureen and Dave Plaskett of Toronto with $105; Brampton’s Michael and Catherine Shook with $400 on behalf of grandchildren Yfke, Theo, Lucas and Riley; Guelph’s Paul Grise with $50 in memory of Al and Ken; Barry and Heather Landon with $200 in memory of “our eldest son Michael” … Toronto’s Ellen Hrivnak donates $50 … Sallie and Brian O’Rourke of Tillsonburg give $200 in memory of Pat Morris … Orillia’s J. Drybrough chips in $50, as does Phyllis Hazell of Victoria Harbour, Michael Gonneau of Bracebridge, Thornhill’s Andy Cherniak, Scarborough’s Gerald Mullins in memory of Roy Delavigne, and E. Lorraine Poce in memory of longtime supporter Paul Poce ... Gale Mosher from Petrolia gives $100 in memory of Sam Lazaroff.
Andre Donato of Mississauga sends $75 … Scarborough’s Colin Harker remembers “my dad Harold, an avid Toronto Star sports page reader” with $88 … The Toronto Over-50s Hockey League scores with $700 … Etobicoke’s Jacqueline and Stan Sokol give $200 “in honour of Leaside’s Howie Birnie who should be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024” … There are $105 donations from Whitby’s Ron Lyons in memory of “my brother Doug;” Connie and Peter of Toronto; PCV Records in memory of Star alum Cosimo De Giusti; Port Stanley’s Stephen Barrett in memory of Len and Marion Barrett; Donna Cottle of Toronto in memory of Norma and Don Fulton; Brampton’s Patricia Lynn McFerran in honour of Brent and Krista Ferris of Perth, Ont. and their boys: James, Edison and Max; Blake Ross of Toronto; and Randy Ruiters in memory of Joe and Josy Ruiters.
Katherine Paidock of Toronto chips in $100, as does retired Star staffer Rick Haliechuk; Aurora’s Ernest Dubkowski in memory of “Mom Pearl, Dad John and Brother Jack. We miss you;” Georgetown’s Richard Redshaw in memory of “Allen and Lorraine Redshaw — one of thousands of great hockey parents;” Susan Ware in memory of “my parents George and Eleanor Seto, and Star sportswriter Frank Orr;” and Kazuo Nishimura in memory of “my wife Alyce Nishimura.”
Finally this week, we welcome back the Norma and Larry Bertuzzi Giving Fund with a $568 donation.
