Hoops & Hoopla Raises $111,000 for Kunsberg School

More than 350 guests at Hoops & Hoopla, presented by Greiner Electric, raised $111,000 on March 31 to benefit Kunsberg School for chronically ill children at National Jewish Health, the nation’s #1 respiratory hospital. Kunsberg is the only school of its kind on a medical campus in the country. The event took place at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Each March for nine years, hundreds of people have gathered at Sports Authority Field to watch the final four college men’s basketball teams compete for a spot in the national championship. The event supports Kunsberg School, a free kindergarten through eighth-grade school for children with chronic illnesses including severe asthma and/or allergies, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other respiratory and related disorders.

Hoops & Hoopla guests watched basketball games on the Jumbotron on the football field, as well as on an HDTV video wall and more than 35 TVs on the stadium’s Club Level Concourse. The event also featured sports-themed games and a silent auction, featuring a wide variety of items including tickets to sporting events, high country getaways and adventure trips.

For the sixth time, Team Greiner won the top fundraising spot for securing more than $40,000 for this year’s event. Event co-chairs included David Greiner, Greiner Electric; Denise Cito, CED; Justin Cooper, GE Johnson Construction Company; Rich Klepper, Mortenson Construction; Jerry Laflen, BKD, LLP; Kevin Larington, Trautman & Shreve; Ward Mahanke, TST Inc. of Denver; Tom Tarver, Greiner Electric; and Kris Wintroub, Greiner Electric.

Sponsors included BKD, LLP; Arapahoe Fire Protection Inc.; AVI-SPL; Consolidated Electrical Distributors; Crescent Electric Supply; Crum Electric Supply; Gary Leimer, Inc.; GE Johnson Construction Company; Gexpro; Husch Blackwell, LLP; Interface Communication Co.; Lockton, Inc.; Mortenson Construction; RK Mechanical; Rossi Engineering; SimplexGrinnell, LP; Trautman & Shreve, Inc.; and UMB Bank.

Kunsberg School at National Jewish Health is a free day school for about 90 chronically ill students in kindergarten through eighth grades. Its mission is to provide a safe, friendly and healthy school environment where students succeed academically, medically and socially. Many students are minorities, and most families are at or below poverty level. Typically, they have fallen behind their peers in school because of.their illnesses. Kunsberg students receive care and learn to manage their illnesses from three nurses and National Jewish Health pediatricians. They eat nutritious meals, exercise daily, and practice positive social interaction. The students learn in small classes from teachers with advanced degrees using the latest educational technology tools; they demonstrate their knowledge by showing steady improvements on the CSAP test and outpacing their peers in similar schools. Upon graduation, Kunsberg students have the skills to lead healthy, productive, meaningful and active lives.

National Jewish Health is known worldwide for treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders, and for groundbreaking medical research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health remains the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to these disorders. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has ranked National Jewish Health the #1 respiratory hospital in the nation.