There are many noble causes around the globe that are in constant need of someone taking the initiative to come up with additional funds. There’s the tsunami relief efforts in Japan, helping end homelessness, and good old fashioned solution to ensure world peace, to name a few.
But one noble Arizona high school junior decided to get creative and take some initiative to help battle the devastating AIDS crisis affecting millions of children in Africa. Eleventh grade soccer player Austin Gutwein originally watched a horrifying video when he was only 9 years old, telling the story of how AIDS is ravaging Africa’s young population.
The video didn’t sit well with Gutwein, who then with the help of his parents, contacted a representative for the Christian charity organization World Vision, who are dedicated to helping those in need worldwide. After some discussion both came up with the idea of playing basketball for charity, specifically shooting free throws.
Gutwein shot 2,057 free throws, one for each child who becomes an orphan due to AIDS during an average school day on the African continent. He gave his event a catchy title like Hoops of Hope and created a nifty website, en route to personally raising more than $3,000 in relief to help the cause.
Soon, word of Gutwein’s charitable efforts spread across town to friends and neighbors, and within a years time, more than 1,000 additional shooters had signed up and began shooting to help fight AIDS. Amazingly, Gutwein’s noble efforts snowballed nationwide as Hoops for Hope has raised more than $2 million in funds to date.
Reportedly, the funds have helped fund the building of a new school, two medical clinics, multiple orphanages, and a clean water system in many parts of the African continent. Gutwein even visited one of the schools he almost single-handedly helped fund and gave this statement:
“These kids were going to elementary school, and that was as high as their education went,” Gutwein said. “They had no chance of going to a university and actually getting a good job. To see how happy these people were to have a chance to do that, to get above that poverty line, it was awesome. “It all happened because we shot some baskets. That was the mind-boggling thing about it.”
Awesome work Austin. I may sign up and drop some buckets from the old charity stripe myself.
Check out Gutwein’s Hoops for Hope story as told by NBC in Philadelphia:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
