From one of KAH's most creative friends...Laura Weinbeger :-)
Trying to encourage the Upward Basketball* 1st &2nd grade girls team I was helping to coach, I challenged the “Ladybugs” that for every rebound they got during their eight game season, I would donate a quarter to KAH, so they could feed a child with each rebound. Having a daughter on the team nicknamed “the Haitian Sensation” gave Kids Against Hunger an even more significant part of my heart—and the hearts of her teammates. During the 1st game, a couple of girls asked me “How many kids are we feeding so far?” At the end of the game, that was the biggest question by all the girls (I think that game they had 18 or something).
My husband encouraged me to invite the parents to match what we were doing, and we had several offer to do so—but all the parents were enthusiastic about their girls playing for something more. In the second game, the girls had 37 rebounds!!!! A couple of parents laughed that maybe they’d have to just make a donation at the end of the season because a quarter a rebound might get pretty expensive. I happened to share with a pastor from another church—who had an older son playing Upward—the girls’ enthusiasm for feeding starving children by getting rebounds, and he and a family friend both wanted to bless the girls’ efforts by donating generously. That generosity served to encourage the girls even more!! We had a few rough games, but the girls continued to ask how many kids they were feeding—even helping me keep track of rebounds during the games. One player and her brother were assigned to do a Random Act of Kindness by their school. Both chose to donate their allowances that week to our team’s KAH fund.
Through seven games, the team had amassed 159 rebounds (some of these girls were playing basketball for the very first time!!)!!! In their final game, they had 45 rebounds, to bring the total to 203 rebounds!!!!! I think there are a few donations still to come, but so far the girls have raised $276.75 – or 1,107 meals!!!
I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of these girls and their beautiful enthusiasm for making a difference! Several other coaches liked the idea and at least one other team did the same.
*Upward Basketball is a Christ-centered basketball program in which every child is a winner. All players have equal playing time and there is a devotion in every practice and a half-time devotion in every game. The kids receive stars after each game signifying “best offense,” “best defense,” “best sportsmanship,” “best effort,” and my favorite—the white star, which represents “Christ-likeness.” Obviously, the “Ladybugs” was a team full of “white star” young ladies!!!!
