Tennis Camp 2010 Thank You

Tennis Camp for Kids, 2010

Dear CKS Member,

Kids’ tennis camp held on Saturday, June 19, 2010 in partnership with Midtown Tennis Club was a great success. This was our annual charity event and this time it was held to benefit Operation Breakthrough (http://www.operationbreakthrough.org). Located in downtown Kansas City, Operation Breakthrough provides a safe, loving and an education environment for children living in poverty. They help these underprivileged children to develop to their fullest potential and empowers their family through advocacy, referral services and emergency aid.

Thanks to your generosity, we collected and donated $1,100.00 and this would not have been possible without your support. Our sincere thanks CKS members and non-members alike for your generous donations. Thanks to volunteers who sponsored food and the gift to the teaching pros at Midtown Tennis Club.

Visit the photo gallery to view pictures of this event.

The executive committee sincerely appreciates your commitment to help the community in which we live. Operation Breakthrough has assured us that the donations they received from us will go a long way to help a child who is struggling to not only thrive in the society but whose basic survival is put to serious test. We strongly encourage our members to visit their facility to learn about what they do and any volunteer opportunities.

We have posted on our Web site (http://www.ckskc.org) some of the comments we received about the tennis camp, our visit to Operation Breakthrough facility, event report and the pictures.

Thank you.

Report by CKS Youth Group

Thanks for participating in the tennis camp! The tennis camp hosted by the Chandana Kannada Sangha was a great success! The donation money went to Operation Breakthrough which is a non-profit organization that houses underprivileged children. Everyone should be proud of themselves for supporting such a great cause.

All the kids had an awesome time playing tennis! The coaches at Midtown did a wonderful job with creating games and drills for the children to improve their tennis. The kids had the pleasure of meeting with some of the Operation Breakthrough children as well.

This charity event was a memorable experience! Just knowing that we all made a positive impact for Operation Breakthrough is the best feeling in the world. Everyone is looking forward to doing this again next year. Once again, thanks everyone for helping!

Nymisha Rao
CKS Youth Group Committee

Operation Breakthrough
Tennis Camp for Kids: A 2010 CKS Fundraiser Event
A Comprehensive Event Report by Ashwini Sreedhara

Ultimately, as children, opportunities are what enable us to succeed. They are the means to potential happiness to a different life. Take away the crucial exposure to possibilities, and a void is left resulting in monotony and danger to self-define a young life. The lack of opportunities precedes a lack of family, adequate education, and structure for thousands of inner-city children in the Greater Kansas City area. They are in need of basic human necessities such as a home, food, and love. They are in need of safety and friendship. They are in need of a breakthrough.

Operation Breakthrough is a non-profit charity organization that houses inner-city children that have no home, or perhaps a drug-immersed family. In renovated brick building sponsors that work there provide them with nourishment, safety from violent street gangs, and most importantly, the opportunities to succeed. Perhaps a little girl will find that she has an excellent writer, or a young man will sing for the first time. Maybe someone will realize their passion for painting and drawing, and maybe a child will use a computer for the first time in his life. These are the kinds of opportunities that hold the enticing promise of a better life, stability, and that is what Operation Breakthrough gives them.

Suffocated by the recent economic crisis, Operation Breakthrough has had major losses in state funding, significantly weakening their ability to take on more children. They are left with a waiting list hundreds of suffering children long. Moved by the organization's actions, motivations, and successes, the Chandanna Kannada Sangha of Kansas City (a cultural community organization), pledged to raise money for Operation Breakthrough.

The Chandanna Kannada Sangha (CKS) is comprised of 100+ Kannada-speaking families in the Kansas City Metro area, and this is the second year in a row the Sangha is partnering with Midtown Tennis Club to raise funds for a worthy cause. As a part of 17th anniversary celebration, CKS hosted a tennis camp for children aged 7 to 18 at Midtown, in which 46 children participated and raised $1,100.00, all of which was presented to Operation Breakthrough. Midtown Tennis Club hosts many tournaments and events for tennis players of all ages, and offer lesson programs for anyone from toddlers to adults; many of their professional coaches come from highly experienced backgrounds, some having played in several grand slams.

The teaching pros drilled and played games with the children, who were divided up by age and placed on one of several courts. This event would not have been successful without the involvement of the teaching pros, Guerin Smith, Dave Gary, Anthony Perkins, and Kelly Ewert. The Membership Director, Brad Houx made this event possible for the CKS and the Tennis Director, Dave Gary gave away goodies to each child participating in the event.

Operation Breakthrough brought six children from the organization, and after initial shyness, they too smiled and played. On my court was a small African American boy named Keeshon. He had been with Operation Breakthrough for some time. At first he didn't speak, but presented with an opportunity to play tennis, and make fast friends, he became lively and invigorated. Twice he bested my doubles team on the court. He had never played tennis before in his life, and he was placed on the court with the most skilled, oldest participants. My friend, Andrew, patiently taught him how to properly hold a tennis racket. He groaned with us when we lost a point, and cheered loudly when we won one. Looking at Keeshon, I wondered what his life had been like before. Did he have a family? A home? I realize how easy it is for us all to forget the scope of our problems, take for granted things like health, friendships, education. For him, it takes merely an opportunity to be thankful for his blessings. For the rest of us that have endured lesser hardships, it takes a loss to be thankful.

Operation Breakthrough is a vessel for children to find themselves in ways they could not before. Famous icons such as George Herman (Babe) Ruth, Harry Houdini, and J.K. Rowling all found themselves once in a situation strikingly similar to the children in Operation Breakthrough. Had they not found an opportunity, whether self-conceived or given to them, they would not have pursued their passion to international fame. Later, Keeshon came and asked me if we could do this every Saturday. With much difficulty, I replied no, maybe next year. But my sadness was replaced with happiness as I saw him chatting animatedly with the other children, comparing rackets and eating cookies, like he had belonged there all along. Thanks to the philanthropic efforts from CKS and Midtown Tennis Club, he had found a breakthrough!