Jericho Juniors Host Charity Event at Sportime Roslyn to Benefit the Homeless

Jericho High School Juniors Samantha DeBello and Amanda Hyman recently hosted “Tennis Fun Night” at Sportime Roslyn, a charity event where all the proceeds went to the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless (LICH). This fundraiser for LICH was sponsored by Sportime who graciously provided the courts free of charge; Long Island Tennis Magazine, who helped organize and facilitate the event; Woodbury Sports and Topspin Tennis and Fitness, who were kind enough to donate tennis balls. Also, a special thanks to Jared Rada, director of tennis at Sportime Roslyn, and Emilie Katz, long-time tennis pro of both Samantha and Amanda, who helped make the event a success.

Samantha and Amanda wanted to make a difference in the community and decided to host a charity event. Their next step was choosing a charity and the type of event to be held.

“A lot of our friends were also going to try and raise money for charities, they were all for great causes, but it seemed as if they were all for the more widely talked about concerns such as cancer and AIDS,” said Amanda. “Sammy and I wanted to choose a charity that needed us and also needed the notoriety.”

"The choice to go with the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless came about a few months ago, when we came across an article that showed that there had been a rise in homelessness on Long Island and that the problem was affecting many families,” said Samantha.

Amanda and Samantha wanted to learn more about the spike in homelessness on Long Island and attended a vigil at Farmingdale State College. After their experience at the charity, the girls decided upon LICH as their charity of choice.

As for the type of charity event to host, the girls immediately thought of a tennis event. Both girls have played for many years and will tryout in the fall for the Jericho High School Girls Tennis team.

From there, Amanda and Samantha elicited the help of their tennis coach, Emilie Katz, and their friends at Long Island Tennis Magazine. Once Sportime Roslyn generously donated their courts, the event was ready to go.

The event was a big success and the girls raised $800 for the LICH. The girls invited their friends and family down to play and those who could not make it to the event still donated to the cause. Everyone who did make it out to play had a great time. Food and drinks were provided and writers from the Syosset/Jericho Tribune and Long Island Tennis Magazine were on hand to take photos and give the event the publicity it so rightly deserved.
Amanda said that she and Samantha “plan to remain involved with the LICH and will attend next year’s vigil."

“We have become more aware of the problem of homelessness and realized that, in many cases, entire families were homeless and people need our help," said Samantha.

Samantha and Amanda both urge people to become more pro-active, and collectively learned the lesson of "Follow through and you can make a difference" through this experience.

In addition to holding annual events and drives like the “Have a Heart for the Homeless” Candlelight Vigil and S.O.S., LICH helps homeless people find new homes, and furnishes those homes with donations of furniture, housewares and appliances. LICH also seeks to educate the public on the necessity of building emergency housing and permanent low-cost housing. Members of the community who would like to help the homeless on Long Island by making a donation to LICH, or to organize their own fundraising event on behalf of the charity, can visit the organization’s Web site at www.nsch.org or call (516) 742-7770 to reach the Nassau County office.