WACO, Texas (KWTX) – A local nonprofit that helps seniors and adults with disabilities got a big financial boost thanks to the success of a recent Granny Basketball game.
Friends for Life raised $15,000 at a basketball fundraiser between the Waco 6-shooters, a granny basketball team out of Waco, and the Famous Friends, a group of well-known women invited by the nonprofit to play.
The Waco 6-Shooters is one of 47 teams in 10 states in the Granny Basketball League which consists of women over the age of 50 playing with 1920s basketball rules.
The July 27 charity game brought out hundreds of fans to the MCC Highlands Gym in Waco.
Friends for Life Founder and Executive Director Inez Russell played on the Famous Friends team, even scoring a bucket, and said the fun was just a bonus to raising much needed funds.
“We are so grateful to everyone who helped with our granny fundraiser,” Russell said. “It was such a success.”
The group hoped to raise over $5,000 but thanks to the support, they more than tripled their goal.
Russell said the money raised will go toward caring for many elderly people who maybe don’t have any family or friends to help them or adults with disabilities.
“We have programs at Friends for Life that are funded completely by contributions and grants and that makes events like this so critical,” she said.
The Waco 6-Shooters defeated the Famous Friends team, in which I was a part along with Waco Police Chief Sheryl Victorian, MCC Athletic Director Shawn Trochim, Baylor spokesperson Lori Fogleman, former KXXV anchor Ann Harder, Rachel Martinez with the Waco Chamber, Milet Hopping with the Waco Housing Authority, Rachel Pate with the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce, Megan Snipes with Baylor Scott and White Hospital; Ashley Thornton, founder of Act Locally Waco; Andrea Kosar, President of the Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; La Vega ISD Superintendent Sharon Fields, and Milet Hopping, the CEO of The Waco Housing Authority.
The Waco 6-Shooters practice and play year-round.
They select one nonprofit a year to support in a charity game and while they’ve switched nonprofits each year, thanks to the success of this year, they plan to team up with Friends for Life moving forward.
“We are so excited that we are going to be able to do this every year,” Russell said.
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