Unique Logo on T-shirt Says it All Focus is on positive while helping needy By Kent Gilchrist, The Province November 27, 2009 Mark Crandall pulled out his wallet and handed me a $50-‐billion dollar bill. It wasn't an outrageously large bribe for a positive column about Hoops4Hope. He knew I was a supporter. No, it was a worthless Zimbabwe bank note from a time, not long ago (2008), of runaway inflation in that country where Crandall is trying to convince people to see something positive where HIV has created far too many orphan children living in such poverty they often don't know where or when they're going to get their next meal. Crandall was in the Lower Mainland last week at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth P.E. teacher Rick Gill, who rounded up a small cadre of enthusiastic and giving young people in 2007 and filled a large semi-‐trailer sized container with sneakers, basketballs, team uniforms and soccer balls in less than two years. They shipped it to Johannesburg, South Africa, last summer. It was the first time Gill had met the H4H founder. Gill organized the second annual Hoops4Hope shoot-‐a-‐thon last Sunday at six schools and raised $ 8,000 which was down $4,000 from last year. But neither Gill nor Crandall, who visited each of the participating schools, was disappointed. Crandall, who describes himself as being on a "life adventure," founded Hoops 4 Hope 16 years ago and has made incredible headway. He splits his year between Long Island and South Africa and Zimbabwe. In the U.S. people such as legendary coach Larry Brown and newspaper columnist Mike Lupica are big supporters. Seeing kids playing basketball in 100 degree heat, on concrete in bare feet has fed Crandall's drive. Getting the NBA Care seal of approval and having the Boston Celtics inscribe "Ubuntu" (African for community sharing and generosity) on the side of their 2008 championship rings has been motivating. Having the NBA's Basketball
without Borders come to H4H community centres -‐-‐ draft picks and young players -‐-‐ and be amazed at the power of sports, is fun, too. Still those things and political endorsements don't come with millions of dollars sticking to them. He and his like-‐minded army are there doing the hard work the rest of the year, providing the coach/mentor, the team and the safe place to go. And for every 10 doors they knock on, perhaps one will result in a cheque. From the misery of poverty and HIV, Hoops 4 Hope is reaching 10,000 kids a year and instead of dwelling on the negative, Crandall prefers to concentrate the positive such as the kids on this side of the world who are learning a bit about themselves and the satisfaction they get from helping the less fortunate. You really only have to read the unique logo on the H4H T-‐shirts to understand where Crandall is coming from and what he is trying to say. The logo is in the shape of the continent of Africa and you find words such as learn, achieve, peace, laughter, friendship, ubuntu, responsibility, dance, dream, play and believe. There are others, but you get the idea. In the 15 years since he started, some of the kids who first came under the H4H umbrella are now back as coaches. They are trained to deal with the social issues, drugs, crime and HIV. They are local, speak the language and are more quickly trusted. And Gill is doing his part here. White Rock Christian will play host to St. Georges next Thursday at 6 p.m. for grade eight, junior and senior games. The seniors will wear H4H T-‐shirts and a cash donation or some sneakers is needed to get in. hkgilchrist@yahoo.com © Copyright (c) The Province