My name is Courtney and my name is Michael and we are TEAM EMPTY CHAIR.

We work for, and travel with the Revolve Tour.  In a nutshell, Revolve is a weekend conference for teen girls, complete with great speakers, rocking concerts and intense dramas.  It’s the loudest, most ear-piercing, screaming 2 days of these young girls’ lives.  We love our jobs and we meet amazing people.

One of the amazing people we have met along the way is Austin Gutwein, founder of Hoops of Hope.  This kid wanted to do something bigger than himself at age 9 and has since challenged thousands of people to follow suit.  He’s 15 now and has raised over 1 million dollars for kids in Africa orphaned by AIDS.

Courtney got the opportunity to travel to Rwanda in March 2009 to SEE and EXPERIENCE the life changing work that World Vision is doing and well…it changed her life  -  “on the last day that I was the there, while driving through the country of Rwanda, I saw an old wooden chair just sitting on a hill in the distance.  And that’s when I knew that I had to return home and do something for these kids.  I no longer wanted to SIT around talking about the problem, but GET UP out of my chair and help them.”

Knowing Austin and seeing what a difference he made by just picking up a basketball, inspired us to do the same.

So we got this crazy idea to drive to all the Revolve events in an RV with a pink basketball goal on the back and hold Hoops of Hope events along the way to raise money for kids orphaned by AIDS.

(And lets be honest, any time a road trip is involved there’s probably going to be some crazy adventures along the way…)

But truthfully we hope every time you see an empty chair – you will remember us and ask yourself, “How can I help too?”

This website is our journey.  We hope it makes you laugh (a lot), sometimes cry, but mostly inspires you to get up and do something bigger than yourself.

How You Can Help: Sign up to do a Hoops of Hope event and 100% of the money raised will go to provide backpacks for orphans. The cost for one backpack is $25 and includes: a blanket, bar of soap, wash cloth, toothbrush, toothpaste, Math flashcards, pencil sharpener, box of pencils, an eraser, box of crayons, box of pens and (2) notebooks.

Set your goal for $100 or more.  This amount will not only win you a limited edition Hoops of Hope t-shirt, but will also provide 4 backpacks for orphan children. Raising $100 is simple. Just ask 4 people if they could donate $25 each to provide a backpack for an orphan child.

Thank you for committing to making a difference for children orphaned by AIDS. Remember, you don’t need to be a basketball player to do Hoops of Hope. You just need a heart for the children we’re helping. Every shot you shoot represents a child and every dollar you raise will change their world.