Orlando Magic’s Historic Off-the-Court Impact This Season Builds on Long Legacy of Assisting Central Florida Community

Paolo Banchero with Boys & Girls Club Youth at the Magic and PepsiCo. Holiday Shopping Spree

Magic Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. volunteering in community for MLK Week of Service

Magic spend Thanksgiving serving breakfast at the Coalition for the Homeless for more than three decades

Magic guard Anthony Black receives the DeVos Community Enrichment Award from Magic Chairman Dan DeVos

ORLANDO, FL, UNITED STATES, May 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On the court, the Orlando Magic just wrapped up their season.

Off the court, the work never stops.

As they’ve done over the course of their 37-year history, the Magic delivered a number of legendary moments throughout Central Florida over the course of their 2025-26 campaign by raising and distributing millions of dollars and engaging in community related programming that impacted more than100,000 kids.

Each year, the Magic give more than $2 million to Central Florida by way of sponsorships of events, donated tickets, autographed merchandise and grants.

At the heart of the Magic’s charitable efforts is the work done by the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation (OMYF), which is committed to helping children in Central Florida realize their full potential, especially those most at-risk, by supporting nonprofit organizations offering youth-based programs in the areas of education, housing/homelessness, the arts and health programs focused on preventing childhood obesity.

More than $31 million has been distributed to local nonprofit community organizations through the Magic’s foundation over the last 36 years.

The signature fundraising event of this past season, the Orlando Wine Festival & Auction, was held on Feb. 28 and raised a record $2+ million for the OMYF, benefiting at-risk children in Central Florida.

It marked the first time in history that the Orlando Wine Festival & Auction raised more than $2 million. The sold-out fundraising extravaganza, which is in its sixth year, included live and e-auctions, as well as an outdoor festival, featuring live music, local and celebrity chefs, wineries, and food pavilions, all held at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando.

Magic players, coaches and DeVos family members were all in attendance at the event to help create awareness on the needs in the community and the work the OMYF does each year.

“The family involvement is why my father started this (and) what he was all about,” Magic Chairman Dan DeVos said. “He wanted a place where the family could get together, be together, have fun together and work together. This grabs everything into one, and then you add onto it the ability to get involved with the community to try and make a difference in different ways. And with the third generation coming out and all those different aspects, it’s been very rewarding for us."

That mindset trickles down throughout the Magic’s roster. Each player on the Magic was involved in a number of community endeavors this season with Paolo Banchero, Anthony Black, Wendell Carter Jr., Franz Wagner and Moe Wagner all being named finalists for the 2025-26 Rich & Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award. Since 1995, the DeVos family has honored a player who has dedicated his efforts off the court for the purpose of enhancing other’s lives. A panel of representatives selects the player and based this year's selection on the last year of the player's community work.

This year’s winner was Black, who provided financial assistance to families in need through his AB Cares Adopt-A-Family program, gave out Christmas gifts to boys in the My Brother’s Keeper program, joined forces with community-minded influencer and lifelong Magic fan “Just Hollywood” to support Orlando’s unhoused community during the holidays, teamed up with Planet Fitness to donate a total of $10,000 to the Universal Boys & Girls Club, and hosted his annual charity kickball tournament with proceeds benefitting AB Cares programs focused on sports-based mentorship and academic support.

"Big honor,” Black said. “Just helping out is something that is important to me and my family. I know my teammates are into it also. Knowing how much everybody does, being selected to get the award means a lot.”

In addition to receiving the award, Black was granted $20,000 from the DeVos Family Foundation for him to donate to the charity of his choice.

“The Magic’s commitment to the community is rooted in the leadership of our ownership group, the DeVos family,” said Magic President of Business Operations Charlie Freeman. “Their genuine passion for giving back sets the tone for our entire organization, from staff and coaches to our players. We are incredibly proud of the way our players serve the community off the court, and we congratulate Anthony for the meaningful and lasting impact he has made in Central Florida and beyond.”

The DeVos family recently showcased their ongoing commitment to the OMYF through a $400,000 pledge, which encompassed all family stakeholders, including the third generation who are increasingly involved in the franchise. The gift underwrites the operational expenses of the foundation, ensuring that every dollar raised directly aids at-risk children who will benefit from its support.

In August 2025, the OMYF announced it will distribute grants totaling $1.6 million in five ways – a summer grant cycle, a winter grant cycle, microgrants, the Linda Landman Gonzalez Leadership Grant (LLG) and through professional development for grantees. Thus far, the summer grant cycle, winter grant cycle and a portion of microgrants have been distributed (microgrants are distributed quarterly). This marks the 18th time the OMYF has distributed at least $1 million to the Central Florida community since OMYF's inception in 1990.

“It's about how can we best support those in need,” said Magic Managing Director Ryan DeVos. “The OMYF does an incredible job. It's a great organization that helps us continue to assist the youth of Central Florida."

In addition, the Magic worked closely with their partners to make an even larger impact in the local area.

Last month, the Magic, all nine of their Champions of the Community (COTC) partners (AdventHealth, City National Bank, Florida Blue, Gallagher, Kia, L3Harris Technologies, PepsiCo, ThreatLocker, and Walt Disney World), the Orlando Neighborhood Improvement Corporation (ONIC) and KABOOM! came together to help construct a new community and kid-designed playspace that will spark joy and a sense of belonging for kids at Boca Club Apartments.

“The organization has just been blessed in so many different ways to be able to be involved in this community,” said Cole DeVos, who’s part of the Magic’s managing development program. “To be able to give back to that with our time and effort is (great). There are obviously other ways we can do that, but there’s nothing like actually getting your hands dirty and doing the work yourself. We really enjoy that part of it.”

A week earlier, Magic guard Jevon Carter, the Magic and AdventHealth teamed up to unveil a newly refurbished basketball court at Oak Ridge High School. For the Magic and AdventHealth, it marked the seventh of 20 courts that they plan to refurbish in the Central Florida area. The courts completed include Wicklow Elementary (August 2021), the Callahan Center (May 2022), the James R. Smith Neighborhood Center (March 2023), Lee P. Moore Park (on April 5), Kissimmee City Chamber Park Community Center (Jan. 2024), Coastline Park in Sanford (March 2025) and the current one – Oak Ridge High School (March 2026).

“This is our seventh court that we’ve done with AdventHealth and the commitment is 20,” Magic Executive Vice President of Marketing and Social Responsibility Shelly Wilkes explained. “We hope to actually do even more than that over time. Really the goal of this is a commitment to the community that really is truly at the foundation of who the Orlando Magic are and of who AdventHealth is. Hopefully this not only inspires the next generation of basketball fans, but also keeps kids active.”

While the Magic have built courts and held camps and clinics to inspire youth since their inception, this season, they also extended their reach overseas. During the week leading up to the NBA Global Games, Franz Wagner, Moe Wagner and the Magic participated in an NBA Cares clinic at Max-Schmelling-Halle and went through drills with kids at the Alba Berlin training facility.

“It was really cool,” Franz said. “We were telling the kids that not too long ago, we were looking exactly like them. It’s a surreal moment for us to come back and hopefully help them out a little bit. So, it was really cool to do that.”

The DeVos family and the Magic are determined to uplift underserved parts of the community and support work to enact meaningful change, remove barriers and allow for all to achieve their full potential.

Over the last decade alone, the DeVos family granted 30 grants to 30 local non-profits totaling $3 million dollars to celebrate 30 years of ownership; paid $2 million dollars to cover compensation for hourly arena workers’ lost games due to the Coronavirus; gifted a combined $500,000 to the OneOrlando Fund for victims of the Pulse shooting; provided a combined $2.5 million for hurricane relief efforts; donated $1 million to the Heart of Florida United Way; provided $10 million to the Orlando Performing Arts Center; and $9 million to the University of Central Florida for the DeVos Sport Business Management program.

“I’ve had the great fortune of working for the DeVoses for 30 years and it all starts with them,” Freeman said. “They are so keen on giving back. They call themselves stewards of the franchise. We are just so blessed to have, who I think are, the best ownership in all of professional sports.”

And that work will continue on, because in the community, there is no offseason.

Trish Wingerson
Orlando Magic
+1 407-538-0892
email us here

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