The Dunks for Diabetes Club held its first meeting on Friday, Oct. 27, where they went over future events like fundraisers, which will raise money for diabetes research.
In the past, the club hosted a 3×3 basketball tournament involving club members to promote healthy exercise habits and raise money. Anyone in any grade could start and volunteer in games.
Dunks for Diabetes is a non-profit organization that promotes health and raises money to benefit the American Diabetes Association by playing basketball. The decade-old organization, created in Baltimore, has raised money benefiting the cause. “Playing basketball to raise money for a good cause is a win-win scenario,” Co-president Shayan Kurup said.
Co-president Matthew Kunst said he plays a big role in the success of this club and his plans for the future are “great.” The club has had a jump start with a large number of students signing up for their club at the club expo. “I hope that me and my partners running this club will be the most successful and influential ones ever,” Kunst said.
The club’s new plan to raise awareness this year is different compared to others in the past. This year’s plan will be mainly focused on the ability to raise money for this cause rather than promoting healthy habits. New creative games will be introduced to club meetings this year including March madness tournaments, game pigeon tournaments, and Super Bowl tournaments.
The new concept of prioritizing money rather than healthy habits this year is a compromise since students already perform healthy habits, and the only area lacking is funding. “Students at this age are already in sports and do other things to promote healthy habits, we need to focus on money and giving back to the organization since we have always been lacking,” Co-President Nathan Tai said.
The goal for this year’s club is to raise $1,000-2,000. Initiative has already been started by club co-presidents discussing ideas on how they will earn their goal. “We have many soon-to-be organized fundraisers for the upcoming future,” Kurup said.
At the first meeting, clubs co-presidents shared their strong expectations for the upcoming year. They will share how they have already begun organizing fundraisers for the upcoming future that will strongly boost their awareness. Fundraisers like bake sales have been their number one target, having it be easy to set up and easy to get the supplies.
In 2012 the club was created by Jordan Yaffe, a seventh grader in Baltimore, for a bar mitzvah service project. The competitive traditional tournaments also honor the late Dr. Fred Brancati. “We wanted to carry on his strong legacy by giving this club our full undivided attention and efforts,” Kunst said.
