With Thanksgiving around the corner, student-athletes in Stockton gave back to those in need Sunday morning.

A Stockton youth AAU basketball team, the Stockton Heroes, threw on their jerseys and teamed up with a local non-profit, Stockton 209 Cares, to assist people experiencing homelessness throughout their community.

"You need to give hope to the homeless," Nancy Lamb, Stockton 209 Cares founder, said.

It's why Lamb, who was homeless herself, got off the streets and wanted to give back, starting Stockton 209 Cares a decade ago. It was a slam-dunk collaboration with the Stockton Heroes, which consists of three age groups featuring 6 to 14-year-olds, who were heroes handing food to the homeless community, including second grader Eliseo Astorga.

"It feels nice," Astorga said. "It's like helping people, people don't have homes, they have no clothes, they have no food, so it's helping people."

"Just feels good to give them what they don't have all the time," Danny Cumplido, Astorga's Stockton Heroes teammate, said.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, student-athletes in Stockton gave back to those in need Sunday morning.

A Stockton youth AAU basketball team, the Stockton Heroes, threw on their jerseys and teamed up with a local non-profit, Stockton 209 Cares, to assist people experiencing homelessness throughout their community.

"You need to give hope to the homeless," Lamb said.

It's why Lamb, who was homeless herself, got off the streets and wanted to give back, starting Stockton 209 Cares a decade ago. It was a slam-dunk collaboration with the Stockton Heroes, which consists of three age groups featuring 6 to 14-year-olds, who were heroes handing food to the homeless community, including second grader Eliseo Astorga.

"It feels nice," Astorga said. "It's like helping people, people don't have homes, they have no clothes, they have no food, so it's helping people."

"Just feels good to give them what they don't have all the time," Danny Cumplido, Astorga's Stockton Heroes teammate, said.

About 50 people from 209 Cares and Stockton Heroes teamed up to dish out hot Thanksgiving meals featuring ham, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, a green bean casserole, dinner rolls, baked macaroni, waters, sodas, and all the fixings.

"Teamwork makes the dreamwork and that's what I believe," said Xavier Manzke, also known as Coach X, Stockton Heroes director and head coach. "Just to show, just like basketball, you need teamwork, just like in life, you need teamwork."

For the Stockton Heroes' teammate, Nancy Lamb, this event hits tragically home.

"Thanksgiving for us is about we want to give back to the homeless," Lamb said. "But also in memory of my son (Johnny) that passed away on Thanksgiving. So, it's a little bit both. We like to incorporate the children, have them come out so that they can learn what it's like to give back."

Anthony and Joseph Lewis-Tucker, fifth graders on the Stockton Heroes team, were helping pass out dinner rolls. 

"We just want to bless for all the homeless that don't have food," Joseph said. "In every state, I wish they get food."

This comes just a few weeks after the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved $1.5 million of funding toward the completion of the Gospel Center Rescue Mission's New Life Program Multi-Purpose Center, providing 110 more beds for the homeless population in Stockton.

"We do have a huge homeless population," Lamb said. "A lot of it is, you get couples that don't want to get off the streets because they don't want to be separated or they have animals, that's a barrier, as well. We do [have] some that, of course, are addicted to drugs, which we're working to get into treatment programs. But, it has grown a lot since COVID."

Community members were grateful, enjoying the hot meals, as they came hungry.

"Stockton's getting better," Ladell Sampson, who came to get some food, said. "That's what we need. This kind of stuff, togetherness."

Manzke started the AAU team last year with his wife and uncle, a family collective effort. Anthony likes how he and his teammates can communicate with each other when playing basketball and how they take a break from their phones together.

Lamb and 209 Cares will be hosting a toy drive on Nov. 30 at SkyZone from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Coach X and the Stockton Heroes host free monthly basketball camps for any youth in the community to participate in.