Diversity & Inclusion

Delaware influencers are keeping kids off the street with a wellness-focused streetball league

The program, focusing on fitness and mental wellness, will have its final tournament of the year this month.

Shana Starks, founder of Influencers Health & Wellness Basketball. (Courtesy photo)

When Shana Starks put together a basketball tournament for kids in the community earlier this summer, she expected it to be a one-time thing.

But the young people — many of whom, she said, were at risk of becoming casualties of the streets — loved the event and wanted more.

“It was like, we need to do another one, we need to keep these kids off of the streets, because there’s a lot of violence going on,” said Starks, founder of the nonprofit Sisters Supporting Sisters. “These are kids from the inner city, they have nothing else to do.”

She put together a program called Influencers Health & Wellness Basketball that meets weekly at Surratte Park in Dunleith. It serves kids age 9 to 15 primarily from Wilmington and New Castle and includes additional time with coaches during the week, as well as periodic guests like dance squads and entrepreneurs.

The influencers in question are orgs and entrepreneurs who’ve sponsored the teams:

The program will end (for now, at least) with its Streetball League and Tournament, Back to School Edition on Saturday, Aug. 21, at Surrate Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Like the program itself, it will offer more than just streetball, with mental health and wellness resources, vendors and a school supplies giveaway, combining one of Sisters Supporting Sisters’ annual kids events with the tournament and expo.

Tables for mental health organizations and resources are free and are (at the time of publication) still available. Tables for product and food vendors are still open as well for a small fee that supports the program. To register for a table, or to sign up as an influencer team sponsor, go to hwbasketball.eventbrite.com.

While sponsors and grants, like one they just received from New Castle County, are always needed, Starks said there are also ways to help that don’t involve donating money. Instead, “we just want you to be present for the kids to see that people care about them.”

After the tournament, Starks says she’ll be focused on launching another youth-facing nonprofit aimed at schools and detention centers called the Musical Emotional and Mental Awareness program. Music will be a big part of it, as will life skills.

“We want to bring home economics back,” she said. “We want to teach kids how to cook, how to do laundry.”

Mainly, the goal is to help kids feel safe.

“We interviewed the kids and asked, do you feel safe in your community. A  lot of them said no,” Starks said. And when asked what they wanted their leaders to do, many said they wanted to be able to do more things like take field trips and participate in athletics.

“They’re looking for stuff to do.”

Flyer

(Courtesy image)

Companies: Futures First Gaming

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

After the election, go to Thanksgiving dinner anyway

How 4 orgs give back to their local tech community

Hispanic tech workers more than double representation in key US cities

This Week in Jobs: Unfreeze your career with these 30 open roles

Technically Media