The KidWorks Women (KWW) social committee gets an enthusiastic “well done!” for their recent Pickleball For a Purpose event that raised $73,000.
For the fourth year in a row, 64 Orange County women returned to the pickleball courts at the Tennis and Pickleball Club at Newport Beach on April 20 to raise funds for KidWorks’ College & Career Success Initiative™.
The initiative prepares first generation college students for higher education beyond high school and includes our College Apps Academy, Campus Crash event, plus engagement with our college counselor, care packages for our college students and more.
Events such as the “Pickleball for a Purpose” tournament have helped ensure that for the past eight years, 100 percent of KidWorks high school students have graduated on time and 100 percent have gone onto higher education.
“We are deeply grateful to KWW and the tournament committee chaired by Kathy Ursini,” says Lisa Gels, our Associate Director of Development. “The KidWorks Women group has rapidly become a vital force in supporting our students and their families through events and volunteering since the relatively short time since they formed.”
“The women on the committee are talented, successful and busy!” Kathy says. “I’m so grateful that they use their talents and their time to benefit KidWorks. We are a true team.”
Thanks to our sponsors: The Gaughan Family, Oltmans Construction Company, the Ammerman Family, Susie and Mark Luer, Schlinger Family Foundation, Helen Fedalen, Kyle Team, Sandy Wirta and many more.
After the Pickleball tournament, players enjoyed a luncheon buffet thanks to Newport Rib Company. We also thank Tom Schriber and Doug Ammerman, who served delicious rose wine, compliments of Provence Rose’, during the post tournament festivities.
They also heard from Emelyn Avalos, a graduate of KidWorks’ programs and now a teacher assistant in our state-licensed preschool, who shared her story:
“While in junior high and high school I would help the younger students with their homework and this is when I discovered my passion for teaching. The staff at KidWorks are so caring and helpful; they are like a second family. Idalia Galdamez, the Preschool Director, continues to mentor me as I am preparing to go back to school to earn my master’s degree in early childhood development or teaching.”
KWW has big plans for the 2024 Pickleball for a Purpose tournament and they will announce details once they are finalized. We expect player spots to sell out quickly for our sixth tournament, so please plan on reserving early so you can enjoy all the fun.
By Glenn Leibowitz, volunteer writer