With his mother and aunt dealing with diabetes, Toronto Raptors guard Alan Anderson decided to take matters into his own hands.

This weekend, Anderson, who recently signed a new deal with the Raptors, is hosting the inaugural Strike Out Diabetes event in his hometown of Minneapolis. Proceeds will benefit the American Diabetes Association of Minnesota.

"Once it started to affect my family and then my friends, I had to do something," said Anderson, a Michigan State graduate who has spent the past few years playing overseas. "I realized how serious the problem is, so I've invited my friends to come and show support."

NBA players Shannon Brown, Al Harrington, Dahntay Jones, Jason Richardson, Brandon Rush, Tyronn Lue, Gary Forbes -- who also suffers from diabetes -- and DeMar DeRozen are confirmed to attend.

"All of us have been training together and I'm really blessed that they want to participate," Anderson said. "It's time to get the word out there. Not too many people are fortunate enough to have a way to spread the word."