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Community Corner

Hoops Give Hope: Underprivileged Kids Get a Fighting Chance

A basketball tournament helps raise money for a summer program for the neediest of children

Playing basketball may seem like a fun way to spend an afternoon, but to some underprivileged children, that game of hoops means the hope for a brighter future. The Rumson Country Day School’s Horizons Program raises money so that 100 needy children from the area can attend its six-week summer program.

This yearly fundraiser, dubbed Hoops for Horizons, is a two-day basketball tournament held March 11th and 12th this year. The proceeds of the event go directly to funding the summer program for the children, who are mostly from neighboring Red Bank.

Carolyn Weaver, the executive director of Horizons, said the event raises funds to pay for almost all of the teachers for the Summer Enrichment Program, and without it Horizons would not be able to serve the children.

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Weaver explained that the program has a five-to-one ratio of students to teachers, and this produces better results in academic achievement for the children who attend the program. Horizons, she said, has found that it is critical in “helping kids to get ahead and catch up to their peers.”  The summer program provides 200 hours of services for the children, including educational and recreational activities. Aside from learning, children have swimming lessons, go on field trips, and are provided with meals and transportation.

The basketball tournament raises approximately $30,000 each year, according to Weaver. That’s fortunate for the children, whose entire summer program is funded by the amount raised. Unfortunately, the amount raised also shows how disadvantaged these children really are—as it is close to the amount that each child’s parents makes in an entire year.

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To qualify for the program, the parents of children in kindergarten through 8th grade, must make less than $40,000 a year. So it’s clear that Horizons serves some of the neediest of children.

“If we had a bigger budget, we would be able to serve more kids,” Weaver said. More money would allow Horizons to enroll more underprivileged children while keeping the student-to-teacher ratio the same, since that has proved to be most successful.

Horizons tries to retain children from kindergarten through eighth grade and works with the Red Bank public school district to identify children who would likely continue on through the program and benefit, according to Weaver. Some children currently in Horizon’s program are also from Long Branch.

The Hoops for Horizons event attracts players and local residents who play in the two-day basketball tournament at the Rumson Country Day School Gymnasium. Weaver said that one New York City team, that is committed to helping underprivileged children, is also in the tournament.

Friday’s first game, for 9th graders through those aged 39, is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The team entry fee is $300. For those aged 40 and up, the team entry fee is $500, and the game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Sixth to eighth graders play at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, and the entry fee is $200 for that team bracket. A minimum of three players and maximum of four players are allowed on each team, and there is a double elimination in the tournament.

Aside from making money from teams’ entry fees, Hoops for Horizons has sponsors who donate. According to Horizons, tournament sponsors of the event, which donated $2,500, include Aetna, Monmouth Eyecare and Seaport Capital. Awards Sponsors, those who donated $1,500, include TD Bank, Greener Corp., Triad Construction and Steven Meisel, Inc.

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