Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Bright Side Night 2016 is less than three weeks away.

What better time to contribute to a great cause than while feeling the glow of Thanksgiving week. As you start anticipating over-consumption food and family tomorrow, take a moment today to look on the Bright Side!

Our little community is donating 1,000+ tickets to send underprivileged kids to the Suns-Pelicans game on December 11, 2016. That’s like a whole corner of the arena! We like to call it Bright Side Night.

It’s the largest individual ticket drive of its kind for Suns games - where everyday people get together to turn small individual donations into a huge event.

This year, not only have we gotten dozens of donations from Bright Side readers - you guys really are the bomb - we’ve also received donations from former Suns president Lon Babby, current player Jared Dudley, and a few other Suns employees.

Donations update

Right now, adding in Jared’s 125 ticket matching, we are at over 800 tickets sold so far for the December 11 game against the Pelicans. With two weeks to go!

That’s great, but not enough. In anticipation of a huge response from Bright Side readers, the Suns have reserved up to 2,000 seats at the $16 price if we need them!

"To me, every athlete has an obligation to give back," Jared tells me, about why he’s donating so much to Bright Side Night. "Kids and the community look up to us. So every chance I have to be able to put a smile, give tickets away or donate money I try to. Phoenix is my community and I will always give back."

That’s how I feel too. Phoenix is our community, and we can use the power of Bright Side to give back.

I can’t wait for the game itself. We are going to have banners, custom T-shirts and a big PA announcement to the whole crowd, plus for the kids we have gifts plus hopefully a special visit by the Gorilla and the Suns dancers! The more tickets we sell, the more attention the game ops people will give these kids (and our blog).

First under-10 raffle winner!

As I promised, we are randomly selecting winners of a FREE pair of lower-bowl Suns tickets to those who donate 1-9 tickets to Bright Side Night. (reminder: those who donate 10+ tickets ALL get free tickets of their own anyway).

Our first winner is long time BSotS reader JASON BODINE!

Jason, who recently moved to Portland, is working with the Suns’ Lauren Baum on which game he and a guest want to attend this year.

Congrats Jason!

We will be picking at least two more winners in the next two weeks, so get your donations in! Link and details at the bottom of this article.

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Why Bright Side Night

Let’s hear what people say about giving back to the community in the name of Bright Side of the Sun while focusing on kids who need it most.

"I wanted to let you know how excited and grateful the Boys & Girls Club in Tucson is to be included in this great project. I spoke with the Club Director and they are so looking forward to the game."

—tedidog, who hooked us up with a great organization this year

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"BSotS comes through again for the kids.

Thanks to the generosity of the fans on this website, several developmentally challenged kids that I know personally went to their first Suns game last year. What a great experience for them…they still talk about it!

Thanks for making it happen again this year!!!"

—BatFatMan

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"I love this.

For me it’s all about forcing children to like the Phoenix Suns.

You have my $160."

—Scott Howard

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"I believe it's more important than ever for us to be examples of kindness, generosity, & inclusiveness. I am really looking forward to attending and meeting you & other Brightsiders who are making this possible!"

— tedidog

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"Every little bit helps!

Hey, guys! I’m totally strapped right now. But I also understand that this is about making dreams come true.

I’m not sure I even knew who was on the Suns the first few times I went to the games when I was a kid. But I do know that I WANTED TO GO. I loved being there and watching 3-pointers and slam dunks and eating cotton candy and popcorn. I liked hearing the announcer say "Twoooo minutes, twooooo minutes" even though I didn’t know why that mattered.

So I’m working a little bit extra this week to send 5 kids to have that same experience. If you can only find $16 to give one kid that experience, eight year old me is sure they’ll appreciate it."

—Mike Lisboa

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"As a kid, our family didn't have much. Not that we were underprivileged, just lower middle class.

We were able to scrounge tickets for a few Phoenix Giants AAA games at Phoenix Muni (remember them?), ASU football and the Fiesta Bowl well before it was a thing. For a long time, I kept the ticket stubs because I cherished the memories that much.

Kudos for doing this, Dave. Makes me proud to be part of this community."

—Ray Hrovat

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"My Dad worked for a company that had season tickets and he'd get them probably once or twice a year

I remember NOW that I really only saw the Mavericks or Clippers play the Suns at the Madhouse but at the time they could have been playing the Washington Generals and it would have remained the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

I remember one time we had to go down into the tunnel area to get whatever free t-shirt giveaway was happening that game and Kurt Rambis was about 10 feet away from me. I was BLOWN AWAY. By Kurt Rambis. I’ve sure come a long way in my cynicism.

In any event, this is really cool and if these kids are anything like me (hopefully only the good parts) they may just remember it for the rest of their lives."

—the sappy side of Scott Howard

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"I still remember how I felt walking into the Purple Palace for the first time

My parents don’t watch sports at all, but my dad got a pair of tickets from work, so he decided to take me to my very first Suns game when I was around 6 or so. I remember we were playing the Warriors, but I don’t remember who won or lost. What I can remember is the sheer euphoria I experienced when seeing that court in person for the first time. It was just…pure joy. I don’t know how else to describe it.

Donated, and I’m proud to be a part of a community that’s doing this. Great job everyone."

—rsavaj

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"Bought a couple

I’m not working right now since I’m taking care of my mom in her recovery from her heart attack, but this is a good cause so I have to help"

—RebUCLAWriter

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"Long time lurker...

But had to give to the cause as I think its a worthy one. Happy to help turn some kids into lifelong suns fans. Also feel like I owe it to BSOTS after lurking for almost a decade. Easily the best community site on the internet. Dave – you and the other writers do a great job. Keep it up."

—jsunben8

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"What do you know, I talked my girlfriend into donating too. Even though she hasn’t been a big Suns fan since Nash left, she thought helping send kids to their first Suns game was a very cool thing to do. She’s a special lady for sure."

—Rod Argent

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"Now is the perfect time to help spread some crazy around. Who was your first favorite Sun? Right now these kids might have the chance to make the bond with their first favorite player.

I'm going to give one of the kids who attends the game a jersey of a player of their choice."

—the awesome Jim Coughenour, who not only contributed 10 tickets but is also going to donate a Suns jersey to a lucky kid!

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These are just a few of the stories shared by people who have donated to this great cause this year.

Now it’s your turn. Add your story to the comments section below.

Final Word

"Even if you can't afford to donate, mention it to someone else who might be able to. Post about it on Facebook. Tweet it. Snapchat the hell out of it. Tell your parents. Tell your kids."

—more wisdom from Jimmy C

Last year, we ended up sending 825 kids (thanks to some Suns ticket-matching) to games last year over two occasions, and this year we’re going to blow that number away.

But it’s up to you.

Donate Now

If you’ve already donated, feel free to donate again. We have a long way to go!

If you haven’t donated yet but want to, go ahead and do it now.

This might seem like a lot of steps, but it seriously only takes a couple minutes. if you don’t want to click links, though, just email Lauren at lbaum@suns.com to work it out over the phone.

• Click this link to get started: https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/suns/EN/link/promotion/home/bc641dcfe985d1bba9ec60345d92777e460a5407
• Click ‘Find Tickets’ and use the promo code 'Bright' when prompted
• Select number of tickets, then select 'Bright Side of the Sun $16', then click the button ‘Find Seats’
• Then click the button ‘Add to Cart’ to sign in as a Sixth Man Member, and then select ‘Donation’ under Select Delivery
• follow all the prompts from there to make the payment!
• You will get a confirmation email directly from the Suns about the ticket donation

If you donate 10+ tickets, the Suns’ Lauren Baum will be in direct communication with you about 1-2 weeks later. Your tickets will also be at ‘Will Call’ on game night.

For those who donate less than 10 tickets, you still might win something for yourself! If that happens, we’ll reach out to you over the next three weeks.

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Recommend an organization

Also, if you know of any deserving non-profit organizations who work with kids - elementary, middle school or teen aged - let us know about them! We might be able to get them some tickets to this event!

Email Lauren at lbaum@suns.com or me at davek01@hotmail.com with the details and/or contact person we’ll do the rest.

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On behalf of these organizations and the kids themselves, THANK YOU! Every little bit helps!