14-Year-Old Discusses Turning Sports Into Charitable Effort

Paul Steinbach Headshot

The 14-year-old founder of Hoops of Hope discusses how kids can use sports to get involved in charitable efforts.

One 508 Ab One day four years ago, Austin Gutwein decided to shoot 2,057 free throws. He made 712 of them, but it was the attempts that mattered most. For the 10-year-old from Mesa, Ariz., each heave at the basket represented an African child orphaned by AIDS during the course of one school day. Those attempts, inspired by a video sent to the Gutwein family by the humanitarian organization World Vision, raised $3,000 in pledged donations. But just as Austin's accuracy at the charity stripe has since improved (doubled, in fact), his charitable efforts - called Hoops of Hope - have grown exponentially. During one event two years ago, some 1,400 kids raised $85,000 to cover more than half the construction cost of a school in Twachiyanda, Zambia. On World AIDS Day last December, more than 5,000 shooters across the United States and in five foreign countries raised $210,000, enough to pay for a medical lab in Sinazongwe, Zambia - with money to spare. In the wake of this year's NCAA men's Final Four coverage on CBS, which featured Hoops of Hope during its championship pregame show, Austin, who turns 14 this month, granted as many as three media interviews a night. Paul Steinbach conducted one of them.

Log in to view the full article
Page 1 of 82
Next Page
Buyer's Guide
Information on more than 3,000 companies, sorted by category. Listings are updated daily.
Learn More
Buyer's Guide
AB Show 2025 in San Diego
AB Show is a solution-focused event for athletics, fitness, recreation and military professionals.
Nov. 5-8, 2025
Learn More
AB Show 2025