One of the things we like most about pro-spor ts culture is the  culture of giving that seems to go with it.  Of course, these athletes make more money than most of our reaaders will see in a lifetime, but there are plenty of movie stars and others who make a ton of money and don’t give it away.  Yet in the lockerrooms and clubhouses, the ethos of charity filters down from veterans like Curt Schilling, who famously gave a quarter million dollars to the Red Sox’ charity, the Jimmy Fund, the day he signed with the team to newer players like Ryan Howard of the Phillies (and, of course, the “mmmmm hall of fame”), who works extensively with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

A sports charity story we came across recently is one of a different stripe–not sports-related, like Schilling’s ALS charity, but one that addresses a serious need in a very needy part of the world: Dikembe Mutombo’s hospital located in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Clinton (she, not he) paid a visit to the former Knick, Net, 76er and Rocket, and the amazing work he’s doing and funding.

In Mutombo’s country, hundreds of thousands of civillians are unsafe.  In 2009 thusfar, 600 civilians have been killed and more than half a million have been forced out of their homes.  Mutombo’s hospital is helping those people and his celebrity is bringing attention to the region’s plight.  There’s a use of celebrity we really admire.