Community Partner: Saturday Hoops
This year, Saturday Hoops celebrated its 20th anniversary. Started by Ed Burg and other passionate individuals, the program has grown through the years from a seasonal Saturday morning baseball meetup for disadvantaged youths in the Over-the-Rhine community to a multi-site, year-round program serving approximately 150 children each week. The program now offers not just basketball, but also includes soccer, yoga, reading, art, and mentorship stations, as well as providing breakfast and lunch to participants. As a largely volunteer-operated organization, the program relies on dedicated core volunteers to provide ongoing leadership as well as groups and individuals looking for opportunities to serve the community for shorter spans of time. The program is partnered with the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative and currently spans three locations in the fall and spring sessions, with the summer session converging at one site, Ziegler Park, to incorporate pool time.
Saturday Hoops has made an impressive impact in the communities it serves and aims to continue expanding its reach across Cincinnati. Towards this goal, it faces challenges in identifying sustainable funding, volunteer support, site selection, and youth recruitment in additional Cincinnati neighborhoods. Understanding the population that Saturday Hoops currently serves and demonstrating a history of positive impact through concrete metrics could enable more effective promotion and recruitment, ultimately support the program’s growth.
About Mary
Mary was born in New Jersey and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina as the oldest of her six brothers. She studied Biochemistry and Spanish at Elon University, where she completed an independent research thesis as an Honors Fellow and Lumen Prize Scholar. Following graduation in 2013, she worked at GlaxoSmithKline as a Senior Scientist in Research & Development. As a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at UC, she completed her Ph.D. research in Cancer & Cell Biology working with Dr. Susanne Wells and achieved independent funding through CancerFreeKIDS and a NIH Fellowship (F30) grant. She is heavily involved in the Cincinnati community through roles at the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative’s Saturday Hoops Program, the non-profit CancerFreeKIDS, and the Cincinnati Hikes social group. Her involvement in volunteer work was recognized in 2023 by a local non-profit, Concerted, who named her the #1 volunteer with over 200 hours of annual service. She is completing the UCCOM Service Elective with the goal to learn and apply skills learned through academic research to community service projects. After medical school, Mary plans to pursue residency training in ENT-Head & Neck Surgery and, ultimately, a career as a surgeon scientist.