The 2014 24 Hour Charity Shootout has wrapped up and has exceeded all expectations! Over 130 people joined Helping Hoops at Albert Park College to shoot as many free throws as they could in their 15 minutes. The event was a massive team effort, with all participants combining for an extraordinary 14,169 made free throws in 24 hours!
The 24 Hour Charity Shootout featured people of all sizes and abilities – from those only just able to hoist the ball over the hoop, to professional players like Stephen Dennis of the Melbourne United Basketball Club (formerly the Melbourne Tigers) who shot an impressive 294 free throws in his 15 minutes at a rate of 82.5%
The 24 Hour Charity Shootout is also the biggest fundraising event for Helping Hoops, and this year’s tally went far beyond even the most optimistic of targets. Shootout participants combined to raise over $83,000 for Helping Hoops, with donations still coming in! A final tally will be announced on Friday, July 11. A special mention goes to Ben Shewry of Attica Restaurant for putting his support behind the charity and individually raising over $50,000. Ben’s support has also extended to Helping Hoops programs, where he has volunteered his time and built up amazing relationships with the kids at the Helping Hoops Richmond program. We cannot thank Ben enough for all he has done for Helping Hoops.
To put the amount raised into perspective, the current schedule of seven weekly programs (and over 300 yearly sessions) Helping Hoops runs costs approximately $70,000 per year. To be able to raise 12-months worth of program funding through the 24 Hour Charity Shootout is an incredible effort, and this financial stability allows Helping Hoops to look at expansion so we can help even more children through our programs. We look forward to sharing our plans in the near future.
The 24 Hour Charity Shootout is not only important as a fundraising event to help keep our basketball programs for disadvantaged and disabled children free, it is also a great opportunity to bring supporters of the charity together for a fun event that celebrates the work of Helping Hoops. This also builds our community and audience, which has lasting benefits long after the 24 Hour Charity Shootout has ended.
Special thanks go out to everyone who registered, fundraised, turned up, and shot as many free throws as they could in their 15 minutes. Your support has tangible benefits that will help children who need the support of Helping Hoops.
A big thank you also to Chase Basketball, who donated use of the Albert Park College gymnasium. Nigel Purchase and the Chase crew are always first to put their hand up to support Helping Hoops and we are very fortunate to have them in our corner.
Over 50 volunteers made the 24 Hour Charity Shootout the awesome event it is, and we thank all of them for their hard work. Rebounding, counting, inputting shot data, setting up the venue: the Shootout is a big team effort and we appreciate all your time and energy.
We also had some special guests come down throughout the 24 Hour Charity Shootout. Thank you to Stephen Dennis of Melbourne United, Helping Hoops Ambassador Lance Hurdle, and Alice Kunek of the Dandenong Rangers and Aussie Boomers for giving up some of their weekend and supporting the charity.
We cannot forget Fume, who was present for every minute of the event to dazzle participants with his basketball freestyle tricks. Fume will continue to work with Helping Hoops on a weekly basis fundraising and helping spread the word through his unique talent.
Lastly, thanks to Helping Hoops coaches, Mike Spears and Omar Coles for their efforts and for continuing to make Helping Hoops the great organisation it is. The reason people turn up to events like the 24 Hour Charity Shootout is due to the fact that our coaches do such great work on the court to help our kids, and they deserve more praise than we can give.
The 24 Hour Charity Shootout continues to grow exponentially every year! What does 2015 hold? Stay tuned!
Keep shooting free throws.
