Jacob Sternberg found inspiration in Theodor Herzl’s quote, “If you will it, it is no dream,” as he embarked upon a mission to bring Gift of Life to his high school, SAR. With a love of basketball and a desire to save lives of patients in need of bone marrow, blood stem cell, and umbilical cord blood transplants, he decided to organize a 3 on 3 basketball tournament to benefit Gift of Life.
Help was needed, so he got in touch with Avery Teplow and his friend, Louis Rosin, to organize a three-on-three basketball tournament. Jacob was already familiar with Gift of Life and felt strongly about having the tournament benefit this particular Foundation. “I had a counselor in camp who was diagnosed with cancer,” he explains, “At the time, it was the first person I was close to that was severely sick, and Gift of Life helped him; thank god, he is better now.”
With a cause identified, the planning got underway. The original date in March had to be postponed and setting another date led to myriad of conflicts. Louis confesses that the tournaments status was a bit shaky, and it was extremely difficult to find an open Sunday with Passover, the SAT’s, ACT’s, and AP exams on the horizon. However, Jacob’s determination never wavered and the three’s extreme passion for the cause shone through.
Jacob, or “Tank” as his friends call him, says, “The widely adopted misconception about teenagers is that they are apathetic and self obsessed, but that simply just isn’t the case.”
On Sunday, May 15th, Jewish High School students from all over the tri-state area grouped into teams of three to compete in the tournament. The day was filled with laughter, fun, and great basketball, and a sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship was evident. Incredibly, over $2,000 was raised for Gift of Life.
Congratulations to the winners of the Tournament: Zach Dicker, Adam Schreiber, and Oliver Schwalbe. A special thank you to Jacob Sternberg, Avery Teplow, and Louis Rosin, whose passion, determination, and courage made this remarkable day a success.