MVP Basketball Camp's Junior Board Runs Fundraising Event

MVP Basketball Camp, a nonprofit organization in White Plains, NY, has never turned away a camper due to an inability to pay. Through its Youth Development Scholarship Program, over 300 basketball-loving children annually attend a week at MVP at no charge, and receive instruction and mentoring that extends far beyond the four corners of the court.       

To meet the challenge of funding this program, a group of former campers formed a volunteer Junior Board of Directors, including Harrison students Jack McCarthy, Nick Pipitone, Zach Evans, Gabby Morris, and Nerieda Mendez, plus White Plains students Aaron Daughtrey, Cameron Crabbe, Marshon Morris, and Malik Omess The board’s first fundraising event, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, raised more than $1000 and will allow MVP to extend four additional scholarships in the summer of 2013.

The tournament was held at the Highlands Middle School in White Plains on March 10th and attracted more than 80 boys and girls playing in three different divisions. All participants were high school students representing more than a dozen local schools. Board members served pizza, organized brackets, kept score, and still found time to participate in the games and contests. Zach Evans of Harrison took home the trophy in the 3-point contest, and his team also won the boys varsity bracket of the 3-on-3 tournament.

MVP’s Junior Board currently has fourteen members, including five who were scholarship recipients during their summers at camp. They meet four times per year and act as an advisory committee for Executive Director Noel Muyskens. They will also support MVP’s next fundraiser, a second annual Ping Pong family night at the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville on the evening of Friday, May 3rd. More information about this event can be found on MVP’s homepage, or go to MVP Basketball Camp's Facebook page to watch a video from last year’s event. 

MVP will run six weeks of camp this summer at two convenient Westchester locations. There are five divisions weekly for boys and girls 6 – 16. Scholarship awards are given based on financial need, plus a letter of recommendation from school. Forms and online registration are available on MVP’s website.

About MVP Basketball Camp

Stan Greene founded MVP Basketball Camp in 1994 with the dream that no child would ever be turned away due to an inability to pay. Stan passed away in December of 2009 after a long illness. His legacy is a basketball camp that has awarded over 4000 scholarships to economically disadvantaged children, plus scholarship awards to numerous children with a family member serving in the armed forces through MVP’s “Hoops for Troops” program. Last year MVP awarded 316 full-week scholarships.

MVP is dedicated to youth development. Its coaches and guest speakers use the game of basketball as a metaphor for the challenges adolescents face as they approach adulthood. MVP’s unique camp environment represents a wide variety of classes and cultures where children can learn tolerance and respect for diversity. But first and foremost, MVP is a place where boys and girls have fun playing the game they love. As one young camper says in MVP’s camp video, “it’s like we’re in the real NBA.”