Fraternity holds charity basketball tournament

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 1:35 AM

Members of the Lambda Psi Rho fraternity at the entrance booth of the charity basketball game held Saturday to raise money for the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation. Photo by Nick Hoffman /Nevada Sagebrush

The fraternity Lambda Psi Rho hosted Hoops for Hope, a charity basketball tournament, over the weekend to raise money for the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation (NNCCF). The NNCCF helps support families in Northern Nevada whose children have been affected by cancer, Travis Nguyen, philanthropy chair for Lambda Psi Rho, said.

“As there is no children’s oncology center in Northern Nevada, many families have to travel to the closest site for treatment in Oakland (California),” Nguyen said.

The event took place Saturday at the Lombardi Recreation Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. The event cost $50 per five-person team that participated and was open to the public.

“We hope to raise $600 for NNCCF,” Michael Wang, president and a founding father of Lambda Psi Rho, said. “NNCCF is the merging of our previous philanthropic organization, Keaton Raphael Memorial (KRM) and the Angel Kiss Foundation. When we started, we chose KRM as our official philanthropy because it was a local organization that we could help anytime.”

The event theme, Hoops for Hope, was established because members of Lambda Psi Rho wanted to incorporate their love of basketball and the importance of giving back into a single event.

“My fraternity approached me last year with such enthusiasm for wanting to give back to our philanthropy group, the NNCCF,” Nguyen said. “Many of our fraternity brothers enjoy the sport of basketball and are avid players so they decided to combine their enjoyment of basketball and their willingness to help to create this event.”

Lambda Psi Rho’s goal is to hold one charity event a semester, Wang said.

“Giving back is one of our fraternity’s greatest passions,” Wang said. “The success of this event will be informing those who attend about children’s cancer in Northern Nevada, as well as whatever amount of money we can give to NNCCF. It’s been fun and challenging. I’ve learned that no matter how much planning you do, attendance will ultimately depend on the weather.”

Gabrielle Irvin can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.