DOUGLAS PARK — Three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade visited his hometown over the weekend to host a festival in Douglas Park for the city's children.
The "Live to Dream" festival celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Miami Heat superstar's Wade's World Foundation. The all-day event featured performers and music artists and served as a place where kids could sign up for after-school programs and receive free dental and health screenings.
Wade said the event, which was co-sponsored by the Chicago Park District, was a way motivate the city's young people.
"We try to bring our kids out and open their minds to different things," Wade said. "It's just great to come back here with 600-plus kids in the community and just kind of see something positive and feel something positive."
Wade told the crowd of children Saturday that the show was about promoting their message: live to dream.
"And that's the message we're trying to portray for our community, for our young kids, is live to dream and choose to live," the South Side native said.
Wade's mother, Pastor Jolinda Wade, wrote a pledge for the children to recite and urged the kids to really "believe in" the message of living to dream.
"It's you saying, 'This is my word. I declare it. This is what I'm going to do,'" she said.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel also made an appearance at Saturday's festival. Emanuel thanked Wade for the work his foundation had done in the city.
"No matter where Dwyane is, his family here, and he's never forgotten the children in the neighborhood and the families of the city of Chicago," Emanuel told the crowd.
