Story by Communications Intern Dexter Whitby, Jr. – On July 8, Mayor Lester Miller returned to Southwest High School where he graduated to speak to the athletes of the 478 Hoops Basketball Camp, which is hosted by former NBA Player Sharone Wright.

“Brings back a lot of memories, no matter how old you get, you always remember where you came from,” says Mayor Miller. “I try to come back to help the youth; it’s something that’s very exciting to me.”

The Mayor had a lot of praise for Wright, making sure to give him all of his flowers. “To come and put your time together with all of the kids that we have here and to show them that there’s a better pathway for them. It means everything to us (Macon-Bibb).”

Wright credits his mom for wanting him to start this camp but has enjoyed seeing the growth of the kids.

“We get underprivileged kids all the time. White kids, black kids, Hispanic kids, it doesn’t matter; there has to be some type of avenue for them to go down,” Wright states.

This is the 25th year of Sharone Wright’s week-long camp which ran from July 6-10. The kids get exposure from multiple NBA players, such as Chris Robinson and Myles Patrick. The campers also learned financial literacy and gained knowledge they can use in the classroom.