The donor: Fraser Christie
The gift: Providing almost 1,750 basketball nets to schools in Toronto
The reason: To promote fitness and well-being
Basketball has been an important part of Fraser Christie’s life for years, as a player and a fan.
He grew up playing the game at school in Toronto and still plays as much as he can while working as an investment analyst at Manulife Asset Management. A few years ago, he noticed the deplorable state of basketball courts at schools across the city. Most rims he saw had no nets at all, which discouraged children from playing.
Mr. Christie, 25, got in touch with the Toronto District School Board and came up with a plan to fund new basketball nets for each of the board’s 583 schools. He donated about $3,500; enough to pay for 1,749 new red, white and blue nets, or three for each school. The nets arrived last September and most of them have been installed and in use ever since. Mr. Christie is now looking at extending his “Net Win” initiative to more school boards and community colleges.
He’s glad to see that many of the courts are finally being used and he hopes his effort will encourage young people to become physically active. “All the studies show how sports and physical activity can improve academic performance, concentration and attentiveness in the classroom,” he said. “I also hope that by leading by example this helps other millennials to get out there and give back to the community.”
Paul Waldie