Thursday, June 5, 2008
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self will play host to the inaugural ‘Bill’s Basketball Boogie’ this Saturday at the Kansas Speedway as a fundraising event for his non-profit organization, the Assists Foundation.
The foundation’s purpose is to help provide young people access to better lives. Self and his committee hope to accomplish this by opening a health center in the Kansas City or Lawrence area that offers athletic opportunities for youth.
“We hope to create a first-class facility here in the heartland that can serve as a national model for like-minded organizations across the country,” Self said in a release.
He started the effort in response to an all-time high in child obesity rates and decreasing popularity in physical exercise.
Cecil Kingsley, Bill’s Basketball Boogie committee member, said the organization hoped the event would raise around $1 million so planning of the facility could begin.
Sponsors have already pledged anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 to attend the event and individual general admission tickets cost $250 — making the $1 million goal plausible.
Kingsley said a lot must be discussed before construction of the facility can begin. First, he said the Assists Foundation needed to find a location. Then it needed to find out if other groups, such as local school districts, were interested in collaborating and make sure inner-city children would have access.
“It’s critical we start somewhere,” Kingsley said. “This Basketball Boogie shows Bill Self that we’re behind his vision and want to help him help kids.”
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. and last until after midnight. It will feature a live and silent auction, food and music from national recording country band Sawyer Brown and Kansas City disco group Disco Dick and the Mirror Balls.
Disco Dick’s keyboardist and manager Mark Higley said he wasn’t as fond of basketball as lead singer Disco Dick but said he was looking forward to helping a good cause.
“It’s a fun thing to do anyway but when you can help other people, we do a lot of events like that,” Higley said. “It makes it even more enjoyable.”
Disco Dick and the Mirror Balls play ’70s cover songs such as KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Shake Your Booty” and Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie.” Higley warned that when his band played the surrounding area usually turned into a massive dance floor.
Kingsley said he was looking forward to the fun-filled evening, but most of all he couldn’t wait to put the money raised toward the youth facility.
“It’s just beginning to grow from a dream into something we can put our arms around,” Kingsley said.
— Edited By Mike Nolan
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