Tennis Fundraising For a Great Cause, Zainab Walji’s Tennis Raffle 2014 for Cancer Charities
Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
My friend Zainab Walji, a moderator on the Andy Murray fan forum and a fellow Murray fan, is holding her fund-raising raffle for cancer charities for the second year in a row, and I urge everyone who feels compelled to please donate to this great cause.
Zainab desired to start a charity raffle after seeing (now cancer survivor) Ross Hutchins, an accomplished British doubles player, organize a huge event while undergoing chemotherapy to fundraise for Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, where he was being treated. Last year was her first year doing the fundraising raffle online and she raised over $3,000 for Royal Marsden, This year, she is aiming to match that total and hopefully outpace it. She is doing this in honor of Ross, Elena and other friends of hers who have a connection to cancer.
This year, those looking to donate have two options, the first one being the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which funds cancer research and treatment, and the second being the Elena Baltacha “Rally for Bally” charity fund, which funds tennis opportunity for low income and disadvantaged youth across the UK. Elena was a former top 50 UK WTA player who tragically passed away from liver cancer at the age of 30 this past May. Both of these charities fund excellent causes and you can’t go wrong with either one.
Zainab was able to gather together some wonderful items to raffle away, with each raffle entry costing just 3 british pounds ($5), thanks to the help of various organizations such as Royal Albert Hall and Wimbledon, along with Andy Murray and his team, the Bryan Brothers, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and others. Those who donate can submit as many raffle entries as they would like, at 3 pounds per entry, and Zainab asks that those who donate notify her of which items they would like to enter in the raffle.
The rewards available as follows:
XE01: Andy Murray giant signed poster. Image of him after he won Wimbledon 2013
XE02: Shirt signed by ATP and WTA players 2014 including Wimbledon winners Djokovic and Kvitova. Comes with a Rally for Bally wristband
XE03: A pair of Royal Albert Hall Masters 2014 tickets for Wednesday evening session, Mansour Bahrami signed book and DVD
XE04: Tomas Berdych signed cap and Davis Cup signed book by the champions Berdych and Stepanek
XE05: Andy Murray signed Queens shirt, signed cap and signed wristband
XE06: GB Fed Cupsigned shirt, Judy Murray signed shirt, president’s choice bag and one Heather Watson signed Oyster card
XE07: GB Davis Cup signed shirt, pair of Wimbledon museum tickets
XE08: Signed Marin Cilic shirt and Signed Bryan Brothers’ shirt
XE09: Signed Bartoli shirt, Maria Sharapova signed bag of sugarpova candy, signed Azarenka wristband
XE10: Signed ‘Titanic: The Tennis Story” book, Sam Stosur signed ITF Olympics book, signed Andy Murray 77 book
XE11: Signed Ivanovic ball, Rafa ball, Azarenka ball, Novak ball, Henman ball and Bryan Brothers’ ball. Signed Sharapova BNP Paribas programme
XE12: Andy Murray signed fan shirt and Aussie open wristband, Signed Andy Murray and Jamie Murray queens programme
XE13: Stan Wawrinka Australian Open champion signed programme, signed Rafa French Open champion ball and signed Federer and Kvitva signed Wimbledon 2014 ball
XE14: Shirt signed by ESPN presenters Mark Petchey and Fabrice Santoro. Signed Pat Cash headband
The link to the Royal Marsden donation page is here https://www.justgiving.com/xenon1 and the link to te Elena Baltacha Foundation donation page is here https://www.justgiving.com/xenon2. Prizes and raffle entry cost are the same with both charities. Please see both pages for more information and of course to purchase raffle entry tickets and donate. The raffle began last week and runs through September 14th at midnight GMT. Anyone from around the world can enter, not just those in the UK or Europe.
Tennis Atlantic 