A group of underprivileged Edmonton teens have the opportunity of a lifetime, thanks to the generosity of strangers.
The Red Storm Club Basketball division has been fundraising in an effort to go to Las Vegas and compete in the Las Vegas Live and Las Vegas Classic tournaments this weekend.
The team, made up of 13- to 17-year-old boys, is part of the Canadian Athletic Development Academy (CADA), a not-for-profit organization that helps kids who are gifted in sport achieve the academic requirements that allow them to succeed in life.
The head coach and director of CADA, Barrie Curtis, told the 630 CHED’s Afternoon News that the program helps out “some of the forgotten kids.”
“They’re kids that are well-intended, but due to their circumstances, they’re usually fighting an uphill battle,” he said. “A lot of our kids put a lot of time and work and energy in trying to be good, productive citizens.”
LISTEN BELOW: Barrie Curtis talks to the 630 CHED Afternoon News
The tournaments in Las Vegas are some of the largest basketball tournaments in the world and can give these boys opportunities they wouldn’t be able to have otherwise.
Curtis said that scouts from the NCAA will be there, along with representatives from every team in the NBA.
And so to get there, the team has been working hard raising money through bottle drives, lawn maintenance work, silent auctions and shoot-a-thons but unfortunately, they came up $12,000 short.
The money they needed was meant to cover everything for the team’s trip, including transportation, lodging and food costs.
Curtis said he and his wife were considering taking out a loan to help make up the difference.
“One of the things that we’ve always done is we’ve tried not to leave any of these kids behind,” he said. “If we promise something, we try to fulfil our promises to these people and these kids because they’re so used to disappointment, they’re so used to people not following up and following through.”
And so the call was put out to help raise the money needed and in almost two hours, it was answered by the public.
Curtis said he’s grateful for the support.
“It’s just given me such faith and hope in humanity, especially in Edmontonians, in how they’ve supported us and how they’ve reached out. The kids are ecstatic, they really are, and we just want to thank you guys.”
Multiple businesses stepped up to donate, including the Edmonton Comedy Festival, Crystal Glass, Unicon Concrete, Leading Edge Physiotherapy, Ol Mcdonalds, ATB Financial, Paul’s Rebar, Reliable Tube, Cheryl Meyer, CSM Travel, Provincial Fridge, Kelso at Sun Freight and the Edmonton Eskimos.
And Eskimos president and CEO Len Rhodes said he wants to host the team at a game in August.
Comments