Phoenix Suns visit kids as part of Hoops for St. Jude campaign

NBA teams, and the Phoenix Suns in particular, do a lot of charity work. The players spent time at Phoenix Childrens Hospital last fall, including donating money during a radio-thon hosted by KTAR/92.3/ArizonaSports, right before training camp.

The Suns organization is also active in the community, including adopting a local high school - a program called SunsCentral - to allow an inner-city school (Central High) to add teachers and support staff and cut the teacher-student ratio down significantly. The Suns are providing $500,000 over two years as just the start of the program.

Players do a lot of charity work too, including on their off-day in Memphis this week.

"For a lot of the players and coaches this was their first trip to St. Jude," wrote Marcus Watson, PR Coordinator at St. Jude, in an email, "And their first interaction with our patients and their families."

"The kids enjoyed getting to meet the Suns," Watson continued. "At St. Jude we try to make life for our patients as normal as possible and when the players come to the hospital it serves as a chance for our patients who might not get to leave the hospital due to their treatment a chance to experience moments that other children should get."

If Suns fans would like to help the kids of St. Jude, you should visit www.stjude.org/hoops.

The team will also be doing more during Hoops for St. Jude week which will be Feb. 24 - March 4.