On December 16th, 15 young women from Foundation Partner, Children’s Aid and the elevateHER Girls’ Basketball Mentorship Program, had a day they will never forget at Madison Square Garden.
In March 2023, as part of Women’s Empowerment Month, the elevateHER program was launched amongst the Jr. Knicks, Garden of Dreams Foundation and Children’s Aid to uplift young female basketball players who are often overlooked or treated as secondary to their male counterparts.
At this particular event, an all-female fifth-grade basketball team from upper Manhattan attended the St. John’s Red Storm Women’s Basketball game as part of the St. John’s Holiday Festival – but for much more than just to watch the game!
The young women attended a pregame meet-and-greet with the Red Storm players, who spoke to them about what it takes to play at the collegiate level, and who gifted each girl in the program a St. John’s jersey and signed team poster.
The girls also got to form a fan tunnel and give the players high-fives as they ran onto the court – one young woman actually ran onto the court as an Honorary Starter, while another gave the honorary PA announcement during intros!
It was a day our young women will never forget, and we cannot wait to see them again when we launch this year’s edition of the elevateHER program in March.