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Flushing, NY - December 18, 2012 - Rising Stars Youth Foundation along with Sugar Foods announced that it has donated $5,000 to Long Beach Public Schools. The donation was made to Arnold Epstein, Athletic Director for Long Beach Public Schools to aid in restoring the sports equipment that was lost during Hurricane Sandy.

Dan Gimpel, the Executive Director for Rising Stars Youth Foundation and a Long Beach resident stated, "We are proud to support our partners in the Long Beach Public Schools Athletic Department, in helping to replace the tremendous amount of equipment young people rely on for sporting and extracurricular activities lost in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Our hearts go out to all of those who were impacted by this tremendous natural disaster, and we're heartened by the way the Long Beach community in particular pulled together to lend one another a helping hand. The Rising Stars Youth Foundation, inspired by so many acts of sacrifice and selflessness, are proud to do our part to help build and restore Long Beach, a great place for kids to grow, learn, and prosper."

A spokesperson for Sugar Foods commented, "One of the founding principles at Sugar Foods Corporation is to take care of your neighbors. Rising Stars and Long Beach High School are our friends and our neighbors; and in Sandy's aftermath it is an honor and privilege to provide some well needed support. It is our hope that this small token will assist Long Beach's athletes to getting back on the field!"

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About Rising Stars Youth Foundation Operating as a 501(C)(3) Foundation since 1996, Rising Stars Youth Foundation promotes the importance of education, and life skills through the game of basketball. Our programming has been redesigned to provide youth with a more comprehensive educational model and offers life-enhancing experiences and sports programs that build character, and inspire our youth to excel and graduate High School and pursue a higher education or vocation.

About Sugar Foods Sugar Foods Corporation (SFC) is a privately-held company founded in 1948 which began as a local bulk sugar distributor throughout the New York metro area. Today, with over 2,000 SKUs, SFC supports a portfolio of products that includes popular brands such as Fresh Gourmet, Chef's Finest, N'Joy, and a host of other products. Throughout North America, SFC is the number one source for sweeteners, croutons, salad toppings, stuffing and breadcrumbs in foodservice and retail channels. With manufacturing locations in Sun Valley, CA, Commerce, CA, Villa Rica, GA, and Mazatlan, Mexico, the company's core values and team principles are focused on an enduring commitment to its Mission Statement - The Customer is King.

For additional information about Rising Stars Youth Foundation please visit our website at: www.risingstarsinc.org or contact Colin Mincy at (646) 479-3128 or Dan Gimpel at (516) 889-1372.

DURHAM - As big shots go, Jay Williams sure has knocked down a bunch of them, like those 3s to help his Duke squad beat Maryland on the road in 2001 in what became known as the Miracle Minute.

But now Williams is shooting shots to win more important victories.

At halftime of Saturday's Western Washington-Duke men's basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Williams received the Donate Life Champion award for his work to raise awareness about the need for people to sign up to become organ donors.

This is the inaugural year of the award, presented on behalf of Donate Life America and Donate Life North Carolina. The honor is being given to select members of the country's athletics community - including basketball legend Michael Jordan - who have inspired others to give what literally is the gift of life through organ donations.

"People in the athletic community have such a capacity to inspire people in our culture, so it means everything to us to have someone like Jay Williams agree to be a spokesman for us," Donate Life North Carolina executive director Sharon Hirsch said.

Williams received the award for advocating the use of the Facebook feature that allows users to indicate in their status whether they are organ donors.

Both Williams' mother and late grandmother struggled with polycystic kidney disease.

Williams' grandmother lost her battle with the disease, but his mother received a life-saving kidney transplant.

"I've been around it since I was a little boy," Williams said.

Williams, a national player of the year at Duke, grew up watching his mom take care of her mom on account of the kidney disease.

Just a few years ago, Williams said his mother told him she wouldn't have put him through a similar ordeal of taking her to dialysis treatments for 10 years.

"Pretty much saying, in a nutshell, she was going to take the kidney failure, and probably pass away," Williams said. "I would have given my mother my kidney, if I could have."

Williams' mother celebrated a portion of her birthday on Saturday at the Duke game with her son.

A registered donor, Williams wants others to get over their apprehensions and sign up, too.

"The only way to actually ease the fear is actually to talk about it," Williams said. "I think there needs to be more awareness about it."

More than 114,000 Americans - 3,500 North Carolinians -- are waiting for life-saving organ transplants right now, according to Donate Life.

Joining the state's donor registry is as simple as visiting DonateLifeNC.org, and those either getting or renewing their driver's licenses can register with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Reach out to Hirsch at hirsch@donatelifenc.org" style="text-decoration: initial; outline: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(237, 29, 36);">shirsch@donatelifenc.org or 919-451-7893 for more information.

Williams led Duke to a national title in 2001 and was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, but then he severely hurt himself when he crashed his motorcycle in June 2003. He tried to make a comeback to the NBA but couldn't make it work.

Yet basketball, including his current work as an ESPN analyst, still affords Williams quite a platform to encourage folks to help other folks through organ donations.

"That's what I was put here to do -- not play basketball, but to be a part of something bigger and different," Williams said.

Story via John McCann at The Herald-Sun

Come join Dan Gimpel and the Rising Stars staff for an intense 4 week training academy @ Luhi. Each session will be 75 minutes long and will focus on conditioning, strength, flexibility, specific individual skill sets from shooting, footwork, to ball handling. These sessions will look to improve you as player and athlete. In addition it will prepare you for travel, high school, aau, or whatever teams you will be trying out for to get an edge. The sessions will be have limited enrollment for quality and be broken down by grades. The cost is $190. Please fill out all information to complete registration at: http://risingstarsinc.org/registration