Giving Kids the Advantage

Community Partner Highlight:

Cornell Cooperative Extension

15-LOVE is lucky to have so many community partners that help our organization carry out our mission of Giving Kids the Advantage™. We would like to give a special thanks to Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Community Nutrition Educator Kim Maercklein. She has been such an asset over the years leading our kids through educational demonstrations that focus on healthy eating and physical activity.

"I was drawn to the 15-LOVE program when CCE wanted to expand its reach to provide education to our community and give kids the skills to make healthy lifestyle choices," said Kim Maercklein. "That was 4 years ago and we have been having so much fun since then."

The workshops are designed to engage the kids in physical activity lessons combined with nutrition lessons while learning to cook as they go along. One of the goals is to encourage them to try something new and hopefully to share what they learned with their family.

"My favorite thing is to see kids think they won't like healthy food, actually enjoy something they made themselves," said Kim Maercklein. "This happens a lot when I work with the 15-LOVE kids."

This type of feedback is something we LOVE to hear and reinforces our mission of helping youth to understand the importance of making healthy choices.

"Thank you Kim for all the hard work and creativity you bring to our kids," said 15-LOVE Executive Director Amber Marino. "They look forward to your visits and all the fun activities and yummy food you make with them. We are beyond grateful for your support."

Above is a compilation of photos of Kim working with our kids over the years.

Siena Marketing Intern

Lily Scoville Joins Us for a Semester

We were excited to host a Siena College student for a marketing internship for the semester – an area we have never worked with an intern. We seized the opportunity and met Marketing Intern Lily Scoville. She has been such a great help taking on marketing projects, while researching new ways to help improve programming initiatives at 15-LOVE. She has done a fantastic job and gone above and beyond what we expected from this experience.

We wanted to get to know Lily and asked her 5 questions we would like to share with you.

1. What are you studying at Siena College? I am currently studying business to business sales and marketing and strategic human resource management at Siena College.

2. What do you hope to do with your degree? I hope to find an entry level position with a company where I have the opportunity to grow and to expand my knowledge.

3. Why did you choose 15-LOVE for your internship? The reason why I chose 15-LOVE for my internship is because I wanted the opportunity to work for a non-profit organization and to help make a difference for the children and families who are a part of 15-LOVE.

4. What do you hope to gain from your internship? What I hope to gain from this internship is to build a variety of skills and to expand my real world experience.

5. Tell us something fun or interesting about you. Something fun or interesting about me is that I have been an avid skier since I was in the 2nd grade. When I’m out there on the mountain, it really allows me to hear myself think and is a good challenge.

Photo caption: Lily poses in the 15-LOVE garden.

Tennis-a-Thon Serves up the FUN in Fundraising

We are proud of our kids who helped raise funds to support 15-LOVE programming by holding their annual Tennis-a-Thon this spring at SPORTIME Schenectady. It was the first one since the pandemic began.

"Our kids jumped at the opportunity to help support our organization with this year's Tennis-a-Thon," said 15-LOVE Program Director Domingo Montes. "We talk a lot about what it means to give back and watching them help support 15-LOVE reinforces our overall mission. They did a great job!"

Photo caption: 15-LOVE participants get ready to hit serve's during the Tennis-a-Thon.

Our Excellence kids came up with the fundraiser idea back in 2017 as way to help give back to the organization that has done so much for them.

"Every year the fundraiser has exceeded our kids goals," said Domingo Montes. "After having a pause for the last two years, our kids knocked it out of the park this year."

We would like to thank our sponsors SPORTIME Schenectady, Riverside Law and Fowler & Co . for your support!.

Bottom photo captions:15-LOVE participants hit their serves during the Tennis-a-thon at SPORTIME Schenectady.

Mix + Match Adult Tennis Begins in May

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We are happy to announce that we will be offering adult tennis lessons again starting May 11th. The 5-week program will take place throughout the week at various courts in the region. There are two sessions to choose from:

Mix + Match Adult Classes – Wednesdays, 5 – 6:30PM at Lincoln Park (Albany)

Adults will learn to play format including instruction and live play.

Adult Tennis Program - Family Class Ages 4 to adult – Saturdays, 9:30 – 11AM at Michigan Ave. (Schenectady)

This Family Class is a beginner class for adults and kids to learn alongside each other. We encourage families to come out to play together, but adults are welcome to come by yourself and learn. Kids must attend with an adult.

Cost to attend the sessions is $25 for the 5-week program.

Racquets are available for purchase for $20. If you would like to purchase one, please email us prior to class and we'll have it ready for you. For more information and to register click the button below.

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2022

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Thank you for considering a gift to 15-LOVE! 15-LOVE (Capital Region Youth Tennis Foundation, Inc) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. All purchases made from this list for the organization are tax-deductible to the extent permissible by law.

You can also select 15-LOVE on Amazon Smile to receive a small percentage of any purchases you make through Amazon when you go to: smile.amazon.com!

Thank you for all your support!

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