Vermont High School Basketball Stars to 'Slam Dunk' to Help Refugees

BURLINGTON, VT (02/19/2009)(readMedia)-- What started as a small class project at Champlain College has morphed into what students hope will become an enduring March Madness basketball tradition with a mission to help refugees and others around the world.

"The Slam For Sudan" -- a slam dunk and three-point contest featuring some of Vermont's most notable high school basketball athletes is aimed at raising money for Global Reach Partnerships, a non-profit organization that supports the Sudanese refugees ("Lost Boys") living in Vermont. It also provides mentoring relationships and training for future business and community leaders living in America and in Southern Sudan.

The "Slam for Sudan" on Wednesday, March 25 at 6 pm will feature some of the best Vermont high school basketball athletes competing in various basketball competitions before bleachers filled with supportive Vermonters. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and are available in advance and at the door at Memorial Auditorium in downtown Burlington.

Participating athletes come from the following Vermont high Schools: Champlain Valley Union, Burlington, Vermont Academy, South Burlington, Rice, Bellows Falls, Essex, Mount Mansfield, Mount Anthony and Lake Region High School.

Even the judges have a Champlain College connection - host of WCAX's Late Night Saturday Tim Kavanagh '86; actor and comic Rusty "The Logger" DeWees '84, and the current Miss Vermont USA, Brooke Werner, who will graduate from Champlain in May with a degree in public relations.

According to "Slam" director Alex Brandstetter, a senior, and assistant directors Moritz Born and Kevin Besecker, junior and senior at Champlain, one of their classes had them planning a hypothetical fundraising event for a class project. "When the class was over, we all looked at each other and said we should do the project for real," said Brandstetter.

They even came up with a catchphrase to guide the project - "They say a dunk can change the momentum of a game, but this March a dunk will help change the momentum of a country."

The lanky guys, who look like they could slam dunk a few basketballs themselves, recruited a dozen or so fellow Champlain students who wanted a chance to bring their classroom learning about public relations, business, event planning and marketing into the real world. "We are really proud of what we have accomplished in just under three weeks," Brandstetter said.

And they are particularly proud they have found a way to use their education, help others and put some real-life business and marketing experience on their resumes. "We feel like the 'Slam for Sudan' is a great way to celebrate Vermont basketball, the New England spirit and Sudanese culture - all at the same time," Besecker added.

By structuring their event planning committee like a Fortune 500 company, he said, the students have been able to attract some major international business sponsors such as Bogner and Ralph Lauren, along with familiar local companies like Ben and Jerry's Homemade, Jay Peak, Champ 101.3 FM, Eating Well magazine, The Inn at Essex and the Essex Shoppes & Cinema to name a few.

"Getting the first few sponsors was tough, but once they came on board, it definitely got easier for others to join or make a donation," Born said. They've enlisted the help of Burlington's Frost Heaves semi-pro basketball team to help promote the slam dunk contest on the Frost Heave's home court at Memorial Auditorium. And this week they received support from Shearer Chevrolet in South Burlington for a half-court shot contest that could result in someone driving home a new hybrid car if they make the shot.

Along with creating and selling corporate sponsorship packages ranging from the "triple double package for $1,000 to private contribution levels of $100 that include court-side seats, the students have set up a website for the event, written press releases, developed logos, posters and worked on getting the spreading the word. "We got a note back from professional NBA star and LA Lakers coach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, so at least we are on his radar," Born said.

Ideally, the Slam for Sudan organizers would love to see their event serve as a template for other groups to help raise money while spotlighting the talents of high school athletes. And if some major media outlets like CBS News, Sports Illustrated or ESPN wants to come cover the Slam, they'd be more than happy to cooperate, Brandstetter said. "We hope the real-life lessons we learned at Champlain College about "home town philanthropy" and getting involved in the community will result in us bringing in between $7,000 and $10,000 for the Global Reach Partnership programs.

For more information on the Slam For Sudan , visit www.theslamforsudan.org or call one of the three: Brandstetter at (802) 272-2562, Born at (802) 272-6448 or Besecker at (716) 864-9135.

For more information about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu.

FOR CALENDAR LISTING:

Slam for Sudan, Wednesday, March 25, 6 p.m., Memorial Auditorium, Burlington. A slam dunk and three-point contest featuring some of Vermont's top high school basketball athletes to raise money for Global Reach Partnerships, a non-profit organization that supports the Sudanese refugees ("Lost Boys") living in Vermont . Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students. For information about becoming a sponsor or advance tickets, call (802) 272-2562 or visit www.slamforsudan.org.

Participating Vermont High School athletes and their schools.

THE BEN AND JERRY'S SLAM DUNK CONTEST Clancy Rugg - Burlington, Peter Francis - Bellows Falls, Adam Gamelin - Colchester, Jon Goldberg - Rice Memorial, DJ Campbell - Vermont Academy, Trevor Huntsman - Vermont Academy, Nick Meunier - Rice Memorial, Jason Gray - Thetford, Dammy Mustapha - Bellows Falls, Evan Tullar- Spaulding.

THE JAY PEAK RESORT THREE POINT CONTEST Joe O'Shea - Burlington, Tyler Kaczor - South Burlington, Eric Dubuque - South Burlington, Clancy Rugg - Burlington, Tanner Darwell - Mount Anthony, Demir Smajovic - Essex, Ben Ferris - Essex, James Hale - Burlington, Jon Goldberg - Rice Memorial, Mark Comstock- Rutland.

THE BOGNER POINT GUARD CHALLENGE Shane Norris - Burlington, Mark Mallory - South Burlington, Jake Donnelly - Champlain Valley Union, Richie Hackett - Lake Region, Conor Leland - Mount Mansfield Union.

Slam for Sudan, Wednesday, March 25, 6 p.m., Memorial Auditorium, Burlington. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students. For information about becoming a sponsor, call (802) 272-2562 or visit www.slamforsudan.org.

------------------------------------------------------------------

EDITORS NOTE: SLAM FOR SUDAN PHOTOS

PHOTOS: Please give photo credit to vtsportsimages.com

TO ACCESS THE IMAGES, GO TO THIS LINK:

http://vtsportsimages.smugmug.com/gallery/7307778_dR69t#469978232_4CeUD

CLICK ON THE SMALL PHOTO AND YOU WILL SEE THE BIGGER PHOTO ON THE RIGHT. FROM THERE, JUST "HOVER" OVER THE BIG PHOTO AND A YELLOW "SAVE PHOTO" FOLDER WILL APPEAR.