Pistons and Farm Bureau Insurance join forces at school

The Detroit Pistons and Farm Bureau Insurance joined forces to renovate the library of J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy in East Detroit.

On Friday morning the Detroit Pistons joined forces with Farm Bureau Insurance to renovate the library of J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy in Detroit as part of their annual “Reading Room Makeover” outreach. This is the fifth annual makeover conducted by the Pistons and Farm Bureau.

J.E. Clark Prep was chosen for this library renovation out of 65 schools from 16 schools across the state of Michigan.

"“We couldn’t be happier to announce J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy as the winner of our Reading Room Makeover contest,” said Charlie Metzger, EVP and Chief Marketing Communications Officer of the Detroit Pistons. “We are excited to get the season started at Little Caesars Arena and pleased to work with Farm Bureau Insurance to revitalize this library and give these deserving students an opportunity to learn and grow in a rejuvenated space.”"

The school has been without a functional library since overpopulation required the use of that space to hold classes and administrative personnel.

This is the 34th facility the Pistons have renovated as part of the NBA’s Live, Play and Learn program at schools, hospitals and shelters.

On hand were Piston Legend and community ambassador Earl Cureton and Detroit Pistons’ center Eric Moreland, along with Farm Bureau’s Vice President of Marketing Vic Verchereau.

Earl Cureton grew up less than 15 minutes from J.E. Clark Prep, in the neighborhood of Mack and Buick in East Detroit. He spoke about how it felt like home, saying “We’re definitely in the right neighborhood, because I grew up over here.”

Verchereau spoke with me about how Farm Bureau and the Pistons share a vision of community service:

"What we’ve found with the Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment is that they’ve united behind the concept of being more than a basketball team, and us being more than an insurance company. Our reason for being here and the reason we’ve done this for five years now is that we truly want to make a difference. That sounds a lot like a bumper sticker, but when you drive 50 people out of Lansing to an area in Detroit that’s really struggling, that shows that you really mean it. We don’t partner with everybody, we partner with teams and organizations that really share our values."

Farm Bureau also conducts similar outreaches in the Grand Rapids area with the Detroit Red Wings’ minor league team, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

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The fully renovated library will be unveiled during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in September with Piston personalities on hand for the event.