Play tennis. Save lives

This time of year is traditionally a time of giving and in the United States about half of all charitable giving is done between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.

Josh Hagar (13) presents Donna and Philip Berber with some of the money raised by his Playing for Glimmer campaign. Jack Newman (back row) is the man behind the Austin Tennis Academy’s unique culture of giving.

It’s also a time that many of us use to teach our children about why they should help people less fortunate than themselves.

In some cases, however, it’s the children who teach us what it is to be selfless and so it has been with the players at the Austin Tennis Academy.

Aged 9-17, they have donated more than $130,000 to A Glimmer of Hope over the past three years, dedicated to a tradition of “giving back” that has been established at the academy by its owner Jack Newman.

To date, more than $87,000 has gone towards funding 27 wells in rural Ethiopia while the balance has helped support Camp Glimmer in Austin. Each well is capable of providing safe, clean drinking water to up to 500 people.

Fundraising efforts have included everything from selling T-shirts to hosting tournaments.

This summer, players took part in Playing for Glimmer which involved securing sponsors for all the games they won in tournaments; Playing for Glimmer raised $31,500.

Here are just a few of the stories to come out of our association with the ATA so far:

Josh Hagar (13) organized Playing for Glimmer and personally collected $10,500. Players participating in the campaign wore T-shirts bearing the slogan: “Play Tennis. Save Lives.”

Jake Austin (10) collected $10,000 by Playing for Glimmer.

Brett Ellen Keeler raised $755 by asking for donations to be made to A Glimmer of Hope in lieu of presents for her 13th birthday.

Eliot Blatt personally donated $4,000 – half of the money he received for his Bar Mitzvah.

Greyson and Savannah Brilliant (13 and 11), designed and sold T-shirts, gave birthday money and spoke in front of their schools to raise awareness about A Glimmer of Hope’s work.

These are young people who have given their time and talent to make a real difference in the lives of some of the poorest people in the world.

Help us make their efforts even more meaningful by donating to A Glimmer of Hope today.

Happy Holidays.

Donna Berber
Founder & President

Philip Berber
Chairman