Big Brothers eye slam dunk with basketball net campaign
Posted March 26, 2017 8:27 am.
Last Updated March 26, 2017 1:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As excitement for March Madness continues to ramp up, purple basketball nets are popping up in parks across Metro Vancouver to raise awareness for the Big Brothers.
The group has put up more than 100 nets on bare hoops to symbolize the number of volunteers they need.
In some areas like Surrey, the Tri-Cities and Richmond, kids are waiting two years before they’re matched up with a volunteer, and like many basketball hoops across the city, they’re left without a support net.
“When you’re shooting the ball it doesn’t have the support of the net,” Kristie Young with Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver says. “Playing basketball by yourself is not as fun as playing basketball with a big brother and in the same way, life is a lot more fun when you have that addition of a positive role model.”
Although volunteering does require commitment to a young child, Young says it doesn’t take much to be there for a kid.
“It’s as simple as shooting hoops, seeing a movie, grabbing a burger or just hanging out,” she says. “The simple thing of being there for someone, having the face to face time with a child, means so much.”
