For those of us that have been to GSoM Nights in the past, we have first hand experience with the magic of setting foot on the floor at Oracle Arena.
And even missing a free throw and being rushed off the court can be exciting for the diehard Golden State Warriors fan.
As the holidays approach, we've been presented with an opportunity to help a group of kids from Hunters Point in San Francisco - kids like the one in the video above (click here to view that) - have that experience of playing basketball on the Warriors' floor.
The Bayview Hunters Point YMCA (BVHP YMCA) has been running a fundraiser by selling tickets for the Warriors' game on December 28th against the Philadelphia 76ers in which a portion of the proceeds will support programming for the BVHP YMCA. With cuts to social services across the city, these funds will go specifically towards their league fees and traveling tournament expenses to keep their participation costs affordable.
What's most unique about the BVHP YMCA is that they're a full service YMCA that offers a wide-range of services beyond what you'd probably expect from other locations: academic programs, community health initiatives, mental health support, and social work services are all available at the Bayview Hunters Point location to ensure the healthy development of all the youth in the area. I've had an opportunity to visit the facility and meet the people there and they do outstanding work that needs support in order to continue helping the youth in their neighborhood succeed. Whether in basketball or beyond, the BVHP YMCA helps local youth achieve their dreams by providing a safe space with supportive adults to help fully achieve them.
Yet setting aside all that, the short-term reward from this fundraiser for the youth is the opportunity to take the court for about two hours on the afternoon before the game if they can sell 300 or more tickets.
That's where the GSoM community comes in.
The youth and staff of the BVHP YMCA have already been promoting the opportunity themselves, but as Warriors fans our hope is that you'll be able to help get them over the top.
As an incentive, GSoM has decided to offer an additional prize to those who buy tickets for the game by Thursday, December 20 at 5 p.m.: each GsoM community member who buys a ticket by Thursday will be entered into a raffle when they notify me that they've bought a ticket. The winner will get a pair of tickets to this Friday night's game against the Charlotte Bobcats.
In other words, there's a two games for one opportunity in addition to helping out the BVHP YMCA basketball teams.
To summarize, here's what you have to do:
Click here to purchase your tickets for the 76ers game on December 28. The tickets available are in the club 200 corner/baseline area.
Send me an email (my address is available in my profile).
If you win the raffle, I'll contact you to offer you the tickets on Thursday night and send you the tickets for the Bobcats game on December 21 electronically. If you can't use the tickets after all, just let me know and we'll redraw.
Obviously, you are free to buy tickets after Thursday but the sooner you can help them out the better.
For more on the Bayview Hunters Point YMCA, check out their website.