Win, Win

In June of 2023, ACE organized one of our tennis round robin events. This one was at Tufts. I was thrilled to be using their courts and building some good rapport with them. Their tennis coaches, Karl Gregor and Kate Bayard, were totally supportive, and the event went off without a hitch. Everyone had fun, I think, and we raised close to $3,000.

The event even inspired 2 small companies to sponsor our organization with additional $1000 donations.

Within days of the event, I got an email from a mom who was looking for a summer program for her 2 girls and her niece. She explained that they had just immigrated from Myanmar, arriving in the country 3 months ago. They were happy to have enrolled in a Somerville public school, but were now in need of a summer program.

She’d heard about ACE through a parent network at the school. She’d heard that we offered scholarships.

Sparing you the logistical details of the kids’ registration, I will just say that these 3 girls did the ACE tennis and writing program, not for the initially requested one week, but for 5 weeks in a row.

I saw these kids in action. They had never played tennis and they didn’t know anyone other than each other when they first came to Foss Park. They made fast friends, had fun, loved their writing experience, and even got a little better at tennis. And what made me happy was they enjoyed it enough to keep coming back.

The money we raised at our tennis event helped these girls have a fun summer. Win, win!