Raptors' Boucher provides major scholarship fund for international student

Chris Boucher is giving back to the community ahead of his sixth season with the Toronto Raptors.

On Wednesday, the 30-year-old forward was on hand to pass over the first-ever SlimmDuck Foundation Scholarship, a donation that his charitable foundation announced earlier this year in partnership with Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chang School of Continuing Education.

The recipient was Helen Harry, who moved to Toronto from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and will be receiving $5,000 towards the cost of first-year undergraduate tuition at TMU, as well as access to the school’s Spanning the Gaps programming.

“Congratulations to Helen Harry for receiving the inaugural SlimmDuck Foundation Scholarship at Toronto Metropolitan University,” Boucher said. “We are proud to provide equal access to higher education for students of Caribbean descent, a mission directly aligned with the goals of my Foundation.”

The scholarship was set up earlier this year as a partnership between the foundation and TMU “to open the door to university education for students who identify as Caribbean,” as per a release.

“The SlimmDuck Scholarship will help ease some of my financial burdens as I start studying towards my dream of becoming a midwife,” said Harry.

Born in St. Lucia before moving to Montreal, Boucher’s story resonates strongly with basketball fans across the world. Dealing with stints being homeless as a teenager, Boucher played post-secondary basketball at a pair of junior colleges before eventually transferring to Oregon.

The third-longest tenured player on the Raptors after O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, Boucher joined the franchise in 2018-19, where he was a member of the team’s first-ever NBA title.

Per the foundation’s website, Boucher’s SlimmDuck Foundation “provides access to meaningful educational and athletic opportunities for youth in underserved communities throughout Canada with a particular focus on Montreal, Quebec, and Toronto, Ontario.”

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