There are two months left in 2025, and Charles Barkley is working hard to complete his annual tradition. He had tasked himself with donating at least $1 million every year to charitable cause/s. Earlier this year, he gave a quarter of a million dollars to a San Francisco organization, GLIDE, that addresses poverty. Yes, despite his hilarious beef with the entire city! But no matter his love-hate relationship with other cities, his love for Leeds is unshakeable. One such initiative in his hometown moved him and made it easy to add the “great group” to check his annual to-do list.

While the Chuckster still has a few more days of downtime before he has to ‘work like a dog’ under ESPN (his words, not ours), Barkley seemingly went back to his hometown. Homecoming for the Auburn legend isn’t a parade and/or fanfare… It’s something that is so much more significant.

The NBA legend stayed in the background of a weekly food distribution program. He silently observed, or as he said, “I kind of scouted from a distance, parked a ways away,” Barkley told a local news outlet. He was not scouting basketball talent for Auburn. He was understanding the work done by Leeds Outreach.

This local nonprofit has been distributing food, medicines, school supplies, utilities, and Christmas supplies to thousands of underprivileged families and residents in the Alabama town for over 30 years. That’s half of Chuck’s NBA career and his entire sportscasting stint! The dedication of the volunteers and their initiatives struck a chord with Charles Barkley, and he silently pledged $1 million to the organization to continue their efforts.

Charles Barkley knows that money is going to make an immense difference, as the Leeds Outreach website states, “Since we have no paid staff, rent, or other bills, 100% of your donation goes directly to assisting hurting people throughout the community.”

Furthermore, the NBA analyst told the media, “I was surprised, shocked really. People started lining up two hours in advance. I’m sitting here like, Man, I didn’t know we had people in Leeds like that — not that many. I was surprised that people don’t have food, to be honest. It was crazy. All these people in line — and I pretty much knew everybody. I was like, Wow.” If we start listing all the big guy’s donations to charities, oh boy, we’ll need more than a few hours…

Charles Barkley is giving back to the city and country that made him

Unlike Shaquille O’Neal, who creates his own moments to give back through Shaq-a-Claus or random shopping trips when he pays for all the customers, Charles Barkley carefully selects his causes. The Round Mound of Rebound’s heart is as big as his mouth. He’s repeatedly claimed that he makes it a point to donate at least $1 million a year. He ends up doing more than that. A chunk of his $80 million net worth goes to multiple schools every year to support athletes and gifted kids. He donated $1 million each to ALS research and to the Wounded Warrior Project.

It was Leeds that shaped his charitable perspective. Charles Barkley narrated that he grew up poor by every definition. His mother delivered his game shoes to the gym to ensure he’d not wear them out sooner. She cleaned houses, and his grandmother worked at a meat factory to make ends meet. Not many people were reaching out to help him, and when he was getting help ‘under the table’ in college, he took it.

The Inside the NBA analyst is now giving back to society. During COVID, Charles Barkley donated $1,000 to each employee of the city school system in Leeds. Charles Barkley was not averse to admitting that he added Auburn University to his will. “In my will, I am leaving Auburn $5 million. I’m going to change it to be just for scholarships for Black students. That’s just my way of trying to make sure Auburn stays diverse,” the hoops legend said in 2023.

Over the years, Barkley, now ‘the ideal’ entrepreneur and philanthropist, has donated a million each to quite a few colleges, such as Spelman, Tuskegee, Miles College, Morehouse, Alabama A&M, Clark Atlanta, Bethune-Cookman, and Jackson State. He is truly leading by example.