FIVE-STAR FOUNDATION INC

Here is the story from a parent of one of our grant recipients...

In January of 2008, my husband suffered a massive stroke. He was hospitalized for more than 6 months and has endured years of rehabilitative therapy. Permanently disabled, my husband is no longer able to participate in sports with my oldest son as he had in the past. My husband lived and breathed basketball and quite naturally my son Zion followed in his footsteps, so much so that though right-handed, he plays basketball with his left hand just like his father did. After my husband's stroke my son was
very depressed and had begun to distance himself from basketball because it was such a painful reminder of what he used to share with his father.
Intuitively, I knew this was not a good way to cope for Zion so I sought out a scholarship from the 5-Star Foundation. I had heard wonderful things about the camp and thought participating might spark joy in my son's heart about basketball again. Boy was I right! Participating with other children who love basketball and interacting with the wonderful coaches of the
5-Start team helped boost Zion's confidence tremendously. However, it was the weekend camp at St. Mary's College that really made a huge difference.
Zion couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had and the awesome experience of staying in a college dorm. 5-Star helped my son Zion get through some rough patches to find his way back to loving basketball again despite not having his dad around to play and encourage him as he had in the past. Little by little my husband is still getting better, but he will never play basketball as he had in the past. I believe participating with 5-Star Basketball has helped my son come to terms with this in a healthy way. We are very grateful to have received a scholarship for Zion.

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Monica Utsey

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