Henry Bibby launches weekend basketball camp for homeless kids

Henry Bibby’s inspiring new endeavor started with a forlorn question: Where are all the homeless kids?

The former UCLA standout guard and USC coach had long noticed the homeless adults in downtown Los Angeles but wondered where their children were. He learned there were 26,000 homeless kids in Orange County alone and decided to help brighten some of their lives by holding a free basketball camp Saturday and Sunday at the Asics Gym in Irvine.

Bibby also plans to hold similar camps at USC and in El Segundo in the coming months as part of his Henry Bibby Star Athletes program.

“I want to do this nationwide for kids,” said Bibby, 67, who won three national championships while playing for UCLA and guided USC to a regional final in the NCAA tournament in 2001. “There’s nothing out there like this. If the kids can be involved in sports, we can do a lot of teaching that way, so I’m excited about it.”

Bibby said his research showed that homeless kids are underserved in the United States.

“I said, �Gosh, man, nobody does anything with the homeless kids,’ ” Bibby said. “We go abroad for kids in different countries, but what do we do for our kids in our country, in our backyard? So my whole thing is to make society aware that there are homeless right here in our backyard that we need to take care of. I understand going overseas is important to help as many as you can, but help your own in your backyard first.”

Bibby invited donors to visit henrybibbystars.org or call (855) 774-7827.

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Twitter: @latbbolch