Who did you serve, and what did you accomplish that day?

We served Ken and Stephanie Akselsen who serve as missionaries with Athletes in Action (AIA) in NJ. They serve with this nonprofit sports ministry and head up a division in NJ which partners with local churches to reach out to community children

by running low cost sports camps.

During this past summer of 2013 they had nine camps throughout NJ and ministered to approximately 600 children and 400 parents. They also have winter clinics and various

other sports ministry events during the year.

Since starting with this ministry in 2010, Ken and Stephanie used their own bedroom (pictured below) as their office. However, this became too small and a church gave them some office space, but it needed to be fixed up. During a few days in October there were five of us who volunteered

approximately six hours each to help them spackle, paint, gather donated furniture, build cabinets and counter tops, run electrical lines and computer lines, and decorate.

Here is the office before it was fixed up.

The new office in process of being fixed up. Cleaning, Spackling, painting, carpeting, etc…

Picking out colors, moving furniture, building and installing counter tops and cabinets.

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VOLUNTEERS

Bev Sollenberger helps with her interior design skills, picking out colors for the paint, carpet, bookshelves, chairs, and

cabinets.

Jay Pierce, a manager of a local radio station, donates and helps move office furniture.

Lou Brancadora helps clean the office and move all the donated office furniture.

Vito Paratore, who owns a construction company, uses his company truck to move furniture and he builds and installs

storage cabinets and a counter top.

Anthony Marsango cleans the office and helps install some electrical/computer lines.

The new office and a thank you from Ken & Stephanie

What is your team’s plan for an ongoing relationship with the nonprofit?

We each have a friendship with Ken & Stephanie Akselsen and love the organization of Athletes in Action. We plan on

continuing to serve by volunteering our time and energy to help reach more more kids and their families. Specifically we will help by volunteering our time and energy during the very busy summer camp season, and being involved with all the

administrative details.

What would your nonprofit do if they won part of the prize money?

Ken and Stephanie raise all the funds that are needed to run this ministry. Currently they have several opportunities that they are unable to do because they do not have enough funding. The goal is to help them raise enough money to successfully expand the ministry into more cities in NJ and around the country. Also, more funding would enable them to offer scholarships to needy children especially in the inner city areas.