A Friday filled with Fun and Surprises

On August 26th, 2011, SuiteKIDS Foundation partnered with the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to bring 8 Roosevelt High School Varsity girls basketball players to a WNBA game at Staples Center! Partnership LA, an educational nonprofit organization started by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, is one of the largest public school turnaround projects in the US serving nearly 20,000 students across 21 schools in some of LA's most impoverished areas.

The night of surprises was underway! The girls and their coaches were picked up at their high school by Gregory, from Jackson Limousine, in a black stretch limo stocked full of drinks to enjoy en route to the arena. Upon arrival, the girls hammed it up for pictures in Star Plaza with all of the bronze statues. Gabriel from the Sparks organization came to meet our group to escort us onto the arena floor to prepare for their next surprise!/p>

The Roosevelt girls lined up on the Staples Center floor to form a human tunnel for the Sparks players! The girls watched as the Sparks players got pumped up during their pre-game ritual. As the team ran out onto the court they high-fived our SuiteKIDS for good luck! These girls were smiling from ear to ear after they got to watch some of their heroes get ready to play a professional ball game.

Upon entering our luxury suite, provided by Club Corp, the girls grabbed some food and drinks and ran to their seats just in time to watch the Star Spangled Banner performance. The girls cheered on the Sparks throughout the close game and made it their goal to get on the JumboTron. They danced, shouted and jumped up and down to catch the cameraman's attention and it worked! Shortly thereafter, Sparky, the Sparks mascot, paid a special visit with the girls in the suite and posed for pictures.

The Sparks game was over, but the girls surprises were not! We headed to the arena floor once again for an autograph session with a couple of the Sparks players! The girls had their tickets, shirts and programs signed by their heroes. To end the evening, Gregory was outside waiting beside the limousine to take them back to Roosevelt where the girls will be starting another school year very soon! Once again, these SuiteKIDS were VIPs from beginning to end!


Photos courtesy of Sabrina Pozzi Photography