The recipient of this week's Ben's Bell is national handball champ Fred Lewis, who helped start the nonprofit Yes-2-Kids Foundation in the mid-1990s.
He was nominated by David Vincent, executive director of World Player's of Handball in Tucson, who wrote that Lewis "uses the sport of handball to motivate student athletes through the spirit of competition as he trains, mentors and coaches them to be better students, athletes and people."
Lewis, president of World Player's of Handball, is paying forward the support he got.
"I received a lot of benefits from handball," Lewis said. "When I was younger I was a very good player and my parents could not afford to send me to out-of-town tournaments, so other individuals went out and collected money and gave it to me so I could go out and travel. Because of that I became a national champion.
People are also reading…
"One day it dawned on me that I got so much from the sport that I needed to do something to give back."
Yes-2-Kids is for players 11 to 19. The foundation raises money to send the players to out-of-town competitions. One former player recently took over the foundation as its executive director. Another is well on his way to becoming a national champion.
"Our goal was to work with kids from at-risk neighborhoods and introduce them to the sport of handball and use the sport of handball as kind of a guide in helping them progress toward graduation in school and growing up to be outstanding citizens," Lewis said.
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191.
