Some of the biggest borderland stars past and present give back

EL PASO, Texas -- Using their platform for good. Borderland athletes team up to give back to children.

Ivan Melendez, Tim Hardaway Sr. and Deion Hankins are known around El Paso for their incredible athleticism but Friday they chose to instead get to know families at the El Paso Children's Hospital.

They handed out gifts, visited countless rooms and most of all talked to families going through the hardest of times - all in the hope of brightening their day just a little bit.

"If we can just put a smile on kids faces or on parents faces," Hardaway said. "I like to talk to them interact with them. If a kid can play a game or sit down and talk back then I'll do that. It's not for me It's for them." 

Hardaway has been doing similar acts for nearly thirty years. He said it was instilled in him when he played at UTEP under the great Don Haskins. For Melendez though who has skyrocketed to the top of college baseball in the past couple of years, all of this is new.

"It was cool just seeing all the kids in awe just being able to give them presents and give them a signed ball and just being there for them and being able to meet their families, I wish them nothing but the best," Melendez said.