Area Bank Grant Keeps Summer Tennis Day Camp Affordable For City's Kids
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A financial institution is making a generous donation to keep a youth tennis camp in the Greater Philadelphia area affordable to low-income families.
With a check presentation ceremony today in Hunting Park, the charitable arm of Citizens Bank announced it was donating $20,000 to the Legacy Youth Tennis and Education program (formerly the Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis).
"A lot of these kids from this neighborhood have never gone to camp before," notes Kareem Bryant, director of neighborhood based programs for Legacy. "It's an opportunity for them to have a full camp experience. This a blended camp, so it's tennis physical fitness, lacrosse, swimming, reading."
Bryant knows firsthand what the camp can do: he was in the program about 25 years ago.
"Tennis provided a lot for me," he says. He went to college on a full tennis scholarship and played pro for a couple of years.
This is ten-year-old Kyle Nesmith's third year participating in the camp.
"I make friends, I get an education, and I want to get a scholarship to be able to go to college," he said today.
The grant will allow 300 children to participate in the summer camp for a dollar a day, or $35 per kid for the program.
