Basketball to Uplift the Youth is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit basketball training and mentoring organization whose purpose is to use basketball as a platform to impart life skills to the youth and provide them with talent-building opportunities while teaching them the fundamentals of the game of basketball.
We established our Haiti program, Baskètbòl pou Ankadre Lajenès (BAL), in July 2013 as a response to the serious lack of programs focusing on Haiti’s youth. This scarcity of youth programs was seen as a major concern given that Haiti is a country where the median age is 22.6 years, 55% of the population is between the ages of 0-24 years, and the majority of criminal suspects arrested are between the ages of 18 and 25. Given basketball’s popularity among Haiti’s urban youth, BAL was established with the intent to use basketball as a platform to impart life skills to the youth and to provide them with talent-building opportunities while teaching them the fundamentals of the game.
BAL is free of charge to participants, and is open to boys and girls ages 8 and up who are currently attending either a primary or secondary school. The program works with the beneficiaries three times a week on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The program’s beneficiaries partake in a variety of activities centered on the program’s two components, basketball and education. These activities are designed to provide the youth with the tools to develop their talents and abilities to the maximum.
Donations received through this fundraiser will go towards supporting the following BAL initiatives: (1) the BAL Scholarship Fund, (2) the BAL Tutoring Initiative, (3) field trips, and (4) operations costs.
As a 501(c)(3) organization, all donations made to Basketball to Uplift the Youth are tax-deductible and donors will receive a letter to that effect. The organization also has a Gold rating on GuideStar, an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofits.
Thank you for your generous contribution to this worthy cause!