HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS: PLAY IT FORWARD S2, E1 RECAP

Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward is back with increased momentum to showcase the goodwill happening in our world and how the Harlem Globetrotters are playing their part as Goodwill Ambassadors. Season 2, Episode 1 began with Rob Scheer, a husband, and dad who took his own pain and trauma as a foster kid in the system and turned it into a thriving non-profit organization that helps kids all over the country to have a little piece of dignity and care that they otherwise would not have.

When his own kids were young, one of the first family outings that he and his husband Reece took them to was a Harlem Globetrotters game. Rob knew of their extensive work as Goodwill Ambassadors and later invited them to come to Comfort Cases in Rockville, MD to be part of a packing party! The packing party began with Thunder, TNT, Jet, and Wham arriving with armloads of supplies at Comfort Cases where they quickly were walked through the history and mission of the organization by Rob, plus given a tour of the facility to introduce the wonderful volunteers, including Rob’s four sons, Tristan, Greyson, Makai and Alex.</p

Eager to get started, the four Globetrotters each paired off with one of Rob’s sons to show them how to pack a Comfort Case. Comfort Cases are tailor-made for different age groups, including some for babies, some for toddlers, some for grade school-aged kids, and others for older adolescents and teens.

As Jet helped pack the cases for babies, he reflected on the emotions that came up for him with the upcoming birth of his own second child just days away. TNT decided to help pack the cases for small children about the age of her own daughter Kali and imagined how meaningful for a child that age to receive these simple but important items. Wham shared he doesn’t have any kids of his own, but he was very empathetic as he packed cases, talked with one of the Scheer kids and volunteers, and heard stories of both adversity and love and how those and similar stories have affected him personally. Thunder helped pack cases for adolescents and teens and discovered it is a Comfort Cases tradition to not only put essential items in the bags but also to write a personal note to the recipient so they know that someone, somewhere was thinking of them and cares for them. Thunder included in his notes what he thought would be meaningful to a child that age as it’s the same age as his own daughters. As the packing party wrapped up, Rob and his sons invited the Globetrotters to come to their home and hang out with the family to see a little closer look into their lives.

The Globetrotters arrived at Scheer Farms to meet the family, learning that while Comfort Cases brings lots of attention to the foster care system and the children who need help, The Scheer Family is a beacon for adoptive families. Four of their five kids came to them through foster care and three of them were adopted during the month of November which happens to be National Adoption Month. One of Rob’s sons, Alex’s adoption was just finalized earlier that week and was unique because he was not a minor at the time of the adoption. Each of the Scheer children had their own story to tell and shared their thoughts on coming into the Scheer family, what it was like growing up knowing that they were adopted, the challenges they’ve faced together as a family, and the best thing to each of the kids about growing up in the Scheer Family.

Alex shared that his story is unique and even though he was legally an adult when he was adopted, the family goes so far beyond the confines of DNA, and in the Scheer Family, they share not only the same last name but that every member knows that they are loved, wanted and cared for. Each Globetrotter had their own unique family experience, like Thunder who grew up in a multigenerational yet non-traditional family structure. In the end, they learned from the Scheers about what family truly means.

In true Globetrotters fashion, they finished out their visit with the Scheer family with some water basketball, plus football on the farm, and turns on the trampoline!