MSU basketball alum Davis Smith to hold third annual school supply drive

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Davis Smith graduated from Michigan State this spring but is staying involved and giving back to the Lansing and East Lansing communities. He will hold his third annual school supply drive next Thursday at the Clara Bell Smith Center.

The drive runs from 2-4 p.m. and anyone is welcome to come and pick up free school supplies.

“Kids can grab a backpack and fill it up with pencils, pencil pouches, everything they need for the school year,” said Smith. “[There will be] basketballs and some MSU gear, so [we’re] just looking to make it bigger every year and just give people a chance to get something to be proud about.”

Smith played basketball at Michigan State for the last four years and started the drive before his junior year. He said last year’s drive served close to 200 people and he’s grateful for the platform his MSU basketball career gave him to do things like this.

“Spartans are everywhere,” he said. “We have such a huge alumni and a huge base that I run into people that are Spartans every single day. They care so much about Lansing. They care so much about East Lansing. So getting able to talk to them outside of Michigan, meeting people in Georgia, Chicago, meeting Spartans everywhere, it means a lot to know that we’re a huge family. The more I can help the family that we have at home, it makes the Spartan community even bigger.”

This year, Smith is also partnering to raise money for the City Rescue Mission of Lansing, hoping to give Spartans from all over a different way to contribute.

“There were tons of people who couldn’t make the event, so I was just giving them a way to help out from afar, from all across the country,” he said.

Smith is the son of MSU great Steve Smith, whose extensive philanthropic work in East Lansing includes a $2.5 million gift that helped build the Clara Bell Smith Center, which helps support MSU student-athletes academically, in 1997. Davis said his father had a big influence on his desire to find his own ways to give back to the MSU community.

“It’s something that my dad has preached in our family, about giving back, since I can remember. So just being able to see people smile and be happy, not just because of points and assists but because of making a difference, I guess that’s something that’s always meant a lot to me.”

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