It’s definitely a great community. I’m just glad to be able to give back. – Trevor Booker said of Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — While growing up, Trevor Booker enjoyed eating a special meal with his big family on the fourth Thursday of November. Sometimes, the feast and fun would happen at his grandma’s house in South Carolina, sometimes at his aunt’s home.

Wherever the meal was, thanks to his parents and family members, one thing was certain.

“We always had food on the table for Thanksgiving,” Booker said.

Giving fans yet one more reason to cheer for him, the Utah Jazz forward is making sure dozens of Utahns in need will have the same experience this Thursday.

With an assist from the Bountiful Community Food Pantry, Booker selected six families to go on a pre-holiday grocery shopping trip so they can stock up their pantries and fridges ahead of Thanksgiving.

The event, called “Booker’s Thanksgiving Assist,” will take place Sunday at Smith’s Marketplace in Bountiful.

“It’s just another way to give back. Some families are not as fortunate as others,” Booker said. “I picked out a few families to help out to make them feel special and get them together with their families so they can have a nice meal on Thanksgiving.”

Booker won’t do any of the Turkey Day cooking for the families, but this was his way of being able to give back to a community that has embraced him since he signed a two-year deal with the Jazz in the offseason.

“I’ve always been active in the community, maybe not as much as I am now, because obviously I’m more financially stable,” said Booker, a valuable backup for the Jazz who’s making $5 million this season. “I feel like I can do more with me being stable. I’m comfortable doing a lot more than I used to.”

This past summer, the hard-working fifth-year player participated in a “Booker’s Breakfast Assist” to help round up cereal and milk donations for the Crossroads Urban Center.

“It’s definitely a great community,” Booker said of Utah. “I’m just glad to be able to give back.”

DRIVING MR. DANTE: Jazz forward Joe Ingles has come a long way over the years. Way back when, the Australian standout forward was Dante Exum’s favorite player and hoops hero.

Now the 27-year-old Ingles is apparently his younger Jazz teammate’s chauffeur.

Surrounded by multiple members of the Australian media for Friday’s game against the Warriors — also featuring Aussie Andrew Bogut — Ingles was asked about his relationship with Exum, the Jazz rookie from Melbourne.

“I saved him from his mom driving him to practice,” Ingles said. “I think he feels better coming with me than his mom. He’s 15 or whatever he is, so I’ll take care of him until he grows old enough.”

Here’s guessing Exum will return the favor if Ingles needs a driver down the road someday.

HELPFUL ADVICE: Ingles was a Beijing Olympics teammate of Bogut’s, but Exum doesn’t personally know the former Ute all that well. The Golden State center, however, took time to speak with Cecil Exum, Dante’s father, to give him advice on the NBA during the draft process this past year. Bogut also met with the younger Exum while the teen phenom worked out in Los Angeles leading up to the June draft.

That was much appreciated by Exum, who believes Bogut’s success on the U.S. basketball scene has been “good for Australian basketball” over the past decade.

“It was big at the time when he went No. 1 back in Australia,” Exum said of Bogut, who was taken first by Milwaukee in the 2005 draft. “He was kind of talking about the differences (of) what he’s done and what he could have done differently to help me.”

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