Tennis Equipment Drive to Help Other Communities
Emma Hardie, a senior at John Jay High School and co-captain of her varsity tennis team, has created a tennis equipment drive to help a charity that brings the joy of tennis to underserved communities in our area and throughout the world.
Emma is collecting gently used tennis rackets, tennis apparel, socks, shoes, and equipment bags that she then sends to Tennis Without Borders, a 501(c)3 non-profit that helps underserved children and teens. Tennis Without Borders then distributes a portion of the donated equipment to the Stamford Youth Tennis program benefiting kids in Fairfield County and the remainder to their tennis programs serving children in Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda and Colombia.
Emma contacted Pedigree Ski Shops this past spring and they generously offered to support her efforts by giving her space for a donation box in their White Plains store to collect donated equipment and apparel from customers. Now donated tennis equipment and apparel are being collected at the Pedigree store on Route 117 in Bedford Hills where Emma’s donation box is located.
Tennis Without Borders’ mission is to provide equipment to children locally and throughout the world so that they can play the sport and learn life lessons off the court along with providing academic support to the children they serve. Their goal is to help children develop and gain confidence through the sport of tennis in areas of the world where this activity would not otherwise be accessible.
Emma says, “I believe that tennis can help shape a child’s confidence and that has a long-lasting benefit. Please join me in supporting the work that Tennis Without Borders does to help children learn and enjoy the sport that we all love. Tennis has been important to me as a way to challenge myself and also be part of a team. I wanted to be able to give back and help others who might not have the same opportunity to experience this and the feeling of accomplishment that comes from commitment and improving.”