Cambodian National Basketball Team Coming To Lowell

The following was submitted by Lowell General Hospital, which has offices at Cornerstone Square in Westford. To submit your own content, e-mail asylvia@westfordcat.org

The Cambodian National Team will take the court against a group of local leaders and players as part of the 2016 Hoops for HOPE basketball marathon on Friday, March 25 at UMass Lowell’s Costello Athletic Center.

Beginning at 8 a.m. a group of 48 volunteer players will take the court for a full 24 hours in an effort to raise $48,000. Proceeds from the event will be split 50/50 between Sihanouk Hospital Center for Hope, a free care hospital in Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh, and its parent organization, HOPE Worldwide, an international charity that supports community services to the poor and needy around the world.

In recent years, the city of Lowell and Sihanouk Hospital have developed a close relationship. Several local fundraisers have benefitted the hospital, and Lowell General Hospital has donated equipment and staff training as recently as February.

Hoops for HOPE began in 2009 in Lowell, which has one the largest Cambodian populations in the country, in an effort to raise money to aid the people of Cambodia, where health care is not affordable for the country’s poor. By 2011, Hoops for Hope had expanded with events in Boston, Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey, with a combined goal of more than $100,000.

The day of the event, there will be two press and photo opportunities:

–          At 10 a.m., a press conference will be held featuring UMass Lowell Athletic Director Dana Skinner, state Rep. Rady Mom, Lowell City Councilor Rodney Elliot, Lowell General Hospital Chief Operating Office Amy Hoey, representatives of Hope Worldwide and Lowell General Hospital physicians who have volunteered their services in Cambodia.

–          At 7 p.m., the Cambodian National Basketball Team, which just competed in the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore, will play a short game against city officials and Hoops for Hope players.

Organizers of the event are still seeking players and sponsors. To sponsor a specific player, visit www.play4apurpose.org. To become a sponsor of the event and have a banner hung inside the Costello Athletic Center, contact event organizer Jay Grasso at 978-397-2916 or by email at jay.grasso@gmail.com.