There are two terrific events coming up in the Brass City over the next several days.
Waterbury Youth Services is having its 21st Annual Back to School Rally at Library Park, and former Holy Cross standout and current NBLC Sixth Man of the Year Ta’Quan Zimmerman will be there. Tootie and friends will be handing out backpacks to kids through the Ta’Quan Zimmerman Foundation. This is the fourth year that Zimmerman has done the backpack giveaway.
On Saturday, the Mustapha Heron Skills Academy will hold the first Stop the Violence 14 & Under Basketball Tournament. The slogan on the poster is simple: “Say no to guns, stop the violence.” The tournament is eight teams in double elimination format and will be contested at the River-Baldwin Recreation Center, 135 East Liberty St., and the North End Recreation Center, 262 North Main St.
Here’s a little more about each event:
Backpack giveaway
If you’re in Waterbury and have a young child, get down to Library Park tomorrow (Wednesday) for the Back to School Rally. The event goes from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., and WYS will have over 40 community agencies on-site to show families after-school programs and resources available to Brass City students.
Zimmerman will be there to hand out backpacks, something that has proven very successful in the past.
“A very close childhood friend Leutrim Krasniqi helped donate to this cause because he feels that it’s important to give back to the youth and make sure they can at least start the school year off on the right foot,” Zimmerman wrote in an email.
Zimmerman gives thanks to those who played a big role in the donation of the backpacks.
“The smiles you see on their faces and the amount of people that will be at the park in need of school supplies is crazy,” Zimmerman wrote.
Zimmerman also thanks attorney Tim Sullivan, Dave Dufour and Robert Damato for their help.
Stop the Violence basketball tourney
(Credit: Mustapha Heron Skills Academy)
Expanding on a theme prevalent with the NY Rens AAU basketball program, Heron’s academy hosts the first Stop the Violence 14 & Under Basketball Tournament. It will take place from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
A little about Heron’s academy: “Help support youth student athletes succeed on the court as well as off the court. We transform student athletes into positive and productive members of society.”
When the academy was established, there was a Reading Program instituted as well. Students who read a certain number of books get items like shoes or bags, according to a story on the SEC website from when Heron was named to the SEC Men’s Basketball Community Service Team. Under Armour and Adidas have assisted with sponsorships. Heron is also involved with improving reading in the city and worked with the Waterbury Police Department on a gun buyback program, according to the SEC website.
Admission is $7 for adults for an all-day pass and $5 for senior citizens and students over eight years of age.
