The city of Charleston, N.O.Vation Entertainment and Sayle Oil Co. will present the second annual “Hoops for a Cause” community basketball game on Saturday, April 9, at Charleston High School.
The event will get underway at 5 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium and will feature a basketball game between local elected officials, police officers, firefighters and business leaders.
The high-flying acrobatic dunk team, “The Dunk Doctors,” will perform at halftime of the game. This team often appears with the “Kings of the Court” dunk team of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.
Tickets, $5 for children age 16 and under and $8 for everyone else, will go on sale March 15 at the Charleston Arts Center and Signs Unlimited. Proceeds benefit the Charleston public schools.
On March 21, a limited quantity of tickets will be distributed to Charleston schools.
For more information, contact Percy Townes at 901-428-4407 or email him at novationbooking@gmail.com.
Townes said the community event features three major points of emphasis:
• There is social service, with organizations coming together to serve while enhancing city-wide morale for the youth and community.
• Youth social deviance will be addressed by using the spirit of the event to create a positive environment that engages youth and their families in an entertaining atmosphere while addressing disparity.
• This is a fundraising event to help provide funds for school organizations within the East Tallahatchie School District that may lack because of federal funding cuts across the board. Such funds can assist the schools to further innovative youth outreach curriculums that concentrate on social economic empowerment of youth and families.
“The city of Charleston welcomes the second annual Hoops for a Cause community basketball game,” said Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith. “The city is excited to help host such a great event. An event of this magnitude will help promote education, pride, awareness, teamwork, leadership and community engagement.”
Noted Sayle spokesperson Jimmie Stennett, “Sayle Oil is definitely proud to be a sponsor and looking forward to such an exciting event for our youth and community.”
Charleston native Townes, who lives in Memphis, heads up N.O.Vation Entertainment and helped to spearhead establishment of the Hoops event last year. He said he is proud to continue the association.
“Being a part of this event in Charleston is such a joy for me,” said Townes. “Collaborating with Mayor Smith, Jimmie Stennett of Sayle Oil Co. and East Tallahatchie school board member Darrel Neal is what bringing the community together is all about.”
IN THE PHOTO: A member of an acrobatic dunk team goes high to dunk the basketball during the inaugural 2015 “Hoops for a Cause” community basketball event at Charleston High School. (Photo special to The Sun-Sentinel)
