Virginia Tennis Foundation
MISSION STATEMENT
The Virginia Tennis Foundation is a non-profit, tax exempt 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to provide resources necessary to enhance programs and services to those in the Commonwealth of Virginia who would otherwise be unable to participate fully in the sport of tennis.
Our focus is to raise funds for programs seeking to help Wounded Warriors and their families, wheelchair players, our special needs population, and at risk youth.
Support the Foundation with a tennis license plate!
In order to support this mission, the Virginia Tennis Foundation (VATF), in addition to soliciting outright grants, has sponsored a variety of fund-raisers, events and programs throughout Virginia.
For two consecutive summers, the Foundation has offered several scholarships to Brenda Schultz-McCarthy’s Tennis & Adventure Camp. In addition to the Brenda Schultz Camp, the VATF has worked along with the Mid-Atlantic Tennis & Education Foundation (MATEF) to offer other matching grants to various tennis & education camps throughout Virginia. If you would like to apply for a camp scholarship for your child, please contact the Virginia Tennis office or visit our camp scholarships webpage for information.
The Foundation also supports “Bounce Back”, a program started by a Lynchburg youth for the purpose of recycling and supplying used tennis balls to nursing homes for medical walkers and therapy, to animal shelters as toys, and to public schools. If you live and play tennis in the Lynchburg area, be on the look-out for the program's recycling containers with the "Bounce Back" logo. View the Bounce Back brochure for contact information and more about the program.
In years past, three very deserving organizations have received monies from the Virginia Tennis Foundation: Joey’s Wheels, Apple Ridge Farm and Brenda Gilmore’s BlazeSports.
Joey, a high school student in Virginia, was the first athlete in the history of his local tennis conference to play tennis in a wheelchair. This was thanks in part to a grant from the Virginia Tennis Foundation and the support of local tennis enthusiasts and his teammates in Virginia. “Joey's Wheels” raised $3,000 for Joey’s competition wheelchair by the spring tennis season.
Apple Ridge Farm, located in Roanoke, received funds from the Virginia Tennis Foundation for their after-school programs. Apple Ridge Farm’s primary mission is to provide outdoor and educational experiences for at-risk youth. The Apple Ridge tennis program is used as a vehicle for encouraging and enhancing self esteem and strengthening leadership skills, which encourages academic success in all of the children who attend these programs.
The BlazeSports Club of Washington, DC and instructor Brenda Gilmore offer a wheelchair tennis program at the East Potomac Tennis Bubble. Students come from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC and funds to support the program have been provided in part by the Virginia Tennis Foundation.
Donations to the Foundation may be made online via Click & Pledge or by sending a check payable to the "Virginia Tennis Foundation" to USTA/VA Tennis at 3229 Brandon Avenue, SW Suite 6 Roanoke, VA 24018.
Another way you can help USTA/VA raise money for the Foundation is by reserving a tennis license plate. Show your support for the game...please send in a completed DMV license plate application today and help us reach our goal of bringing the first tennis license plate to Virginia. After the first 1,000 plates are sold, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Virginia Tennis Foundation.
For more information about the Foundation, please send an email to CLOAKING or contact Janine Underwood, USTA/Virginia Tennis Executive Director at 540.982.5524
Thank you for your continued support. Raise a racquet!
