Darrell Griffith, the former Utah Jazz star who led the University of Louisville Cardinals to an NCAA title in 1980, is scoring big again
this year with his annual Derby night blowout, The Darrell Griffith Foundation All-Star Celebrity Affair. “Headlining our entertainment this year is Fantasia” Barrino, Griffith said, referring to the recording artist and Broadway and TV actress who won “American Idol” in 2004. “Opening for Fantasia is Chrisette Michele, a Def Jam artist coming off a real hot hit (she won Grammy Awards for “If I Have My Way” and “Be OK”). And DJ Kid Capri he’s been with us 10 straight years.” Held at the Cascade Ballroom of the Kentucky International Convention Center, at $65 per general-admission ticket it’s one of the least-expensive Derby parties in town and has a 16-year track record of benefiting Louisville’s needy. “We’re not charity-specific we give money to worthy causes throughout the community,” Griffith said. He estimated the charitable giving of his Griffith Foundation Derby party at $375,000 since its inception in 1993. “Some of it goes to help the poor, to fight AIDS, for scholarships &mdash we spread the benefits around.” “We love Darrell,” said Alice Brooks, founder and executive director of New Beginnings for Women, a 12-bed drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation center. “We’ve known him about five years, and anytime we need help or money, he’s there. Thanksgiving and Christmas, he sends a bus for the ladies, and for people in other shelters, to take them out for a good holiday meal. “Matter of fact: He just recommended us for a grant through Canaan Missionary Baptist Church, and we got it.”
Proceeds from the All-Star Celebrity Affair have also gone to UofL’s Autism Treatment Center, and last year Griffith promoted a ticket raffle for the recent Big East basketball tournament that supported a scholarship fund at FEAT (Families for Effective Autism Treatment) of Louisville.