Bennedict Mathurin continues giving to local Haitian community

Mathurin is doing his part to support and elevate the Haitian population living elsewhere, including Indy and his hometown of Montreal.

Photo: @Pacers

Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin grew up in Montreal but he and his family has strong Haitian roots.

During his rookie season, Mathurin brought attention to the Haitian Association of Indiana (HAI) with holiday give aways to support the local Haitian population. Prior to the season, Benn and his sister Jenn made sure to include kids from the HAI family to enjoy his day camp at the Noblesville Boys and Girls Club with other local kids who don’t usually have a chance to experience a quality, elite basketball camp.

My favorite part of watching Mathurin and his sister at the camp, was how invested they were. They demanded the best from the campers even though the best for most was not on an elite level. DOING your best trumped BEING the best as the lesson imparted to campers. Turned out to be one of my favorite days in a gym after witnessing several years of cringy AAU moments.

In support of Mathurin’s passion, the Pacers celebrated Haitian Independence Night (Haitian Independence Day is officially January 1, celebrating when Haiti became an independent nation) when they played the Knicks on Saturday night. Mathurin donated $10,000 to the HAI Haitian Association of Indiana (HAI), in partnership with the National Basketball Players Association during a check presentation before the game.

Benn and Jenn also worked with the HAI to provide over 130 tickets to local families in the Haitian community and met with the group following the game. Mathurin’s pride as a Canadian-Haitian is to highlight and elevate the Haitian Diaspora in Montreal, Indiana and Haiti.

So impressive to see Benn (and Jenn) invest so much effort locally while raising awareness to a bigger cause and in doing so, making Indy a better place for the it. Oh, and Mathurin delivered a nice, efficient effort off the bench in the Pacers 140-126 win over the Knicks, pitching in 20 points on 10 shots, making 3 of 5 three-point attempts.