Stephen and Ayesha Curry Reach Personal Milestone That Should Be Getting More Attention

Stephen Curry has accomplished just about everything a basketball player could hope for, but there's another side of his life that deserves attention.

For years, he and his wife Ayesha have been helping children in Oakland through their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation.

Some of those children are getting help with reading. Others have benefited from the meals, books and playgrounds the foundation has provided. It's work that doesn't always make the headlines, but it has continued even after Curry and the Warriors left Oakland.

In 2024, the foundation announced plans to raise and invest $25 million over five years to help children in Oakland who were struggling to read. The initiative aimed to provide approximately 10,000 tutoring opportunities for elementary school students who needed additional help.

Two years later, the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation reported that nearly 10,000 students had received literacy tutoring through its programs, according to its October 30 update.

Helping Kids Who Just Need Someone to Believe in Them

Ayesha and Steph Curry — Jul 20, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry and wife Ayesha Curry arrive at the Red Carpet for the 2022 ESPY at Dolby Theater. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

Reading struggles can make for a tough school experience. Children who are struggling to read may be falling behind in school, but it's worse when they are reading aloud in front of other kids who are reading above grade level.

The Currys and Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation have been working to address the needs of children in Oakland's schools, focusing on providing professional, high-quality tutoring for students who are two or more grade levels below their peers in reading.

In 2024, nearly 600 students from 18 elementary schools were enrolled in a pilot program for the literacy initiative. Early results from Ignite Reading's portion of the pilot indicated that 85% of its 122 participating students closed their kindergarten-level reading skill gaps and began working on first- and second-grade reading skills.

Those results are encouraging, especially considering how difficult school can become for children who are struggling to keep up. Getting extra help with reading might not seem like a big deal to everyone, but it can make a difference for a child who has been falling further behind.

As part of its work, the foundation released a documentary called "From Struggle to Strength: Advancing Literacy in Oakland." The documentary features several students, including Damiyah, Jude and Ariyah, and follows them as they learn to read.

Their stories offer a look at what some Oakland students are dealing with and why the foundation has put so much attention on literacy. There's still a lot of work ahead, but the tutoring program is giving more children access to help they might not otherwise receive.

The Currys Have Never Forgotten Oakland

June 15, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) waves to the crowd with wife Ayesha Curry (left) during the Warriors 2017 championship victory parade in downtown Oakland. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Even though the Warriors moved to San Francisco in 2019, the Currys have continued to support the Oakland community through the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation. The foundation launched in 2019, the same year the Warriors moved to San Francisco.

What started as a conversation around the family's dinner table seven years ago has grown into a much larger operation. The Currys wanted to help children in a city that had become an important part of their lives, and they've continued putting resources into Oakland ever since.

According to the October 30 update from the foundation, more than $100 million has been invested in Oakland since 2019. That includes providing more than 35 million meals, putting over one million books into the hands of children and transforming 27 schoolyards.

The Currys and the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation have set an example of giving back to the community that has given so much to them.

All of the administrative and fundraising expenses for the foundation are paid for by the Currys, so that all of the funds raised from donors can go to the programs that are helping Oakland's children.

And they aren't just writing checks.

In an October 30 article published on the foundation's website, Eat. Learn. Play. CEO Chris Helfrich described the Currys' continued involvement with the organization. Their commitment has included spending time with children at Oakland schools and supporting the foundation's literacy and playground initiatives.

Those visits are a part of the story that could easily get overlooked. It's one thing to provide funding for a program, but the Currys have also made time to visit the schools and spend time with the children benefiting from their work.

There are still plenty of challenges facing Oakland's children. The foundation has made progress over the past seven years, but there are more students who need tutoring and more families who could benefit from its programs.

For Stephen and Ayesha Curry, the work hasn't stopped with a financial commitment or a few appearances at local schools. They've continued supporting Oakland year after year, and there's no indication that they're planning to stop anytime soon.

The next chapter of Curry's basketball career will eventually come to an end. His work with Oakland's children, however, has the opportunity to continue long after he plays his final game.

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