“3..2..1 ..PLAY FOR PEACE!” 70 Kids ages 8-13 gathered around Coach Denise Murphy and shouted in unison “Play for peace” before hitting the courts for FUN,GAMES AND PRIZES at the 1st Annual Play for Peace tennis event to benefit the House of Peace at College Park Athletic Club in Deerfield on Saturday May 7th.
17 Tennis professionals from 7 local clubs donated their Saturday evening to ensure the kids had fun and grow to LOVE the great game of tennis. These young athletes came from clubs across the North Shore to support the event, which donated 100% of its proceeds to the House of Peace. They whacked groundstrokes, smashed serves and tested their agility on the obstacle course for 2 hours, before feasting on sub sandwiches and cold drinks. The kids also had a chance to learn about the House of Peace project and its volunteers through a home video presentation and collages of summer volunteers. They learned they could have fun AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!
A big SHOUT OUT to our generous sponsors!!!! Local businesses came through in a huge way to support this grassroots event: TONY’S SUBS in Deerfield donated sandwiches, The TOY STATION in Lake Forest donated oodles of prizes; SUNSET FOODS donated snacks; COLLEGE PARK ATHLETIC CLUB donated all the court time . GINA’S TIPS2TOES, PEGANN KOMPANY, SALON ON THE BLUFF and LET’S HAVE FUN donated items to the prize table. Corporate sponsors WILSON SPORTING GOODS and JIMMY JOHN’S donated prizes and COCA-COLA REFRESHMENTS supplied all the drinks
High school tennis players got involved too! Over 30 members of local HS tennis teams put aside their rivalries for a night and joined together to contribute to the House of Peace project while enjoying the game they LOVE. Many of the high school players had volunteered at the site during the renovation last summer!!!