Storming the Court for Bone Marrow Awareness
Jul 19, 2012 by Gift of Life
News
3 on 3 Basketball Tournament Fundraiser
Jacob Sternberg and Avery Teplow, students at SAR High School in Riverdale, NY demonstrate that you can make an impact on society at any age. They learned this lesson first-hand as they set out on their mission to advocate and fundraise for patients in need of bone marrow transplants at their 2nd Annual 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament to benefit the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation. The event brought together more than forty, 14-18 year old teenage boys from all over the tri-state area. Jacob’s involvement with the Gift of Life stems from his personal connection to cancer and how instrumental Gift of Life was in saving his camp counselor’s life.
For Jacob, the benefit held particular meaning due to a recent life-changing event. In the midst of planning the tournament, Jacob’s family was shaken by terror when his brother was severely injured in an automobile accident. “Watching my brother go through this helped me to better understand the true value and beauty of the greatest gift, life itself,” said Jacob. Struggle often brings people together and fuels communities to collaborate to overcome these challenging times. His brother’s accident provided even more passion and motivation to the participants and supporters of the community to raise awareness and funds to save the lives of patients through life-saving transplants.
With this year’s 3 on 3 basketball tournament, the boys surpassed last year’s fundraising results. The success of this year’s event can also be attributed to the implementation of social media marketing and an online fundraising program with the help of David Herskowitz.
Jacob and his friends began planning their first basketball tournament at age 14. Watching their plan make its way from paper to production has been an amazing thing. “Never say that it is not possible. You can achieve anything, big or small, through strategic planning and motivation,” said Jacob. The boys plan on hosting another 3 on 3 basketball tournament next May. “Looking at the picture of all the guys, who chose to spend their Sunday morning playing basketball and raising awareness and funds for bone marrow transplants, is evident to the fact that teens are not apathetic and can achieve amazing things when they work together,” said Jacob. Everyone who came out had an amazing time and was ecstatic with the results. The winners of the tournament were Zak Lenik, Hami Alexander and Shai Kaminetzky.
Jacob will be joining the registry soon after his 18th birthday and has taken the initiative to bring Gift of Life’s Senior Swabbers, a program aimed to educate rising high school graduates on the importance of helping those in need and giving them the opportunity to join our bone marrow registry, to SAR High School this academic year. Jacob believes that if you have the resources to save a person’s life, you should do it without any doubts.
The Gift of Life offers a spectrum of programs and opportunities for young adults to get involved. Teaching youths the importance of saving lives, changing the world and helping them to develop leadership skills through hands-on models is of great importance at the Gift of Life. If you are interested in learning more about our programs, please contact info@giftoflife.org or call 800-9MARROW.
