|

|
Basketball Jamboree
The
Kiwanis
Basketball Jamboree is the longest, continuously held charitable
event in Central Iowa. From its inception in 1948 as a football
scrimmage between Drake University and Graceland College, the Jamboree
has evolved through the years into an annual event that has raised
nearly $1.5 million to benefit disadvantaged children and youth
programs in the Greater Des Moines area.
With
the 1968 Jamboree, the competitive format was changed to basketball,
where it remains today. Initially, the Basketball Jamboree was played
in Veterans Memorial Auditorium and featured Boys teams from the
Central Iowa Metropolitan League. In 1993, Girls teams joined the
schedule of the day. Also in 1993, we began collaborating with the
Westside and West Des Moines Kiwanis Clubs in presenting the Jamboree.
Those new partnerships have expanded our ability to make the Kiwanis
Basketball Jamboree a truly outstanding Central Iowa event - one
that players, fans, and college recruiters look forward to every
year. Most recently, the event has been played at the Knapp Center,
the home of the Drake Bulldogs.
The
event, sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Central Iowa
McDonald's restaurants, benefits Central Iowa organizations such
as Ronald McDonald House Charities, YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls Clubs,
Easter Seals, Amanda the Panda, Children and Families of Iowa, Drake
Head Start, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and more than 20 others.
Ronald
McDonald House Charities, the primary benefactor of the Jamboree
proceeds, receives matching funds from McDonalds Corporation. In
recent years, Ronald
McDonald House Charities has used the funds to purchase the
“Smiles on Wheels” mobile dental clinic and a bus for transporting
residents from a local at risk children's residence, Orchard Place.
In 2003, we raised nearly $30,000 for kids in Central Iowa. In 2005,
we netted $30,745 - our most successful event ever!
Proceeds from our 2005 Basketball Jamboree benefited the House
of Mercy in Des Moines. Double matched by the Ronald McDonald
Foundation, our efforts provided the House of Mercy with a new outdoor
toddler play area. We plan for our 2006 proceeds, again matched
by Ronald McDonald, to benefit Wildwood
Hills Ranch.
Our
2007 Jamboree Chairman is Sam Gelb.
This event is so big, we even have a separate web site! Check
it out.
|