Side by Side-Charity Basketball in Decatur

~Doc Lawrence

Volunteers Andrea Redmond (L) & Sheila Hortman

 They played a remarkable basketball game a few days ago on court located on the campus of Decatur High School, just down the street from the restaurants, taverns and shops along the beautiful Courthouse Square in this remarkable Renaissance city. One team was made mostly of health care workers, lawyers and others like your neighbors. Pitted against The Harlem Wizards, a modern counterpart of the fabled Harlem Globetrotters, they had no chance even before tip-off. But, those in wheelchairs, on crutches and needing assistance to even view the event won big.

Event supporter Kevin Panter with Olivia Thomason

This was a game for them and the thousands at home who suffer from brain injuries. Side by Side is their charity, dedicated to caregiving when insurance and government are unable. “Every dollar raised at this event,” according though Cindi Johnson, Side by Side’s executive director, “helps our members with brain injuries get the support long after medical care is finished but challenges remain.” The charity, she said, “offers a pathway to self-sufficiency for those whose lives were forever changed when their brains were damaged in a car crash, a construction job accident a random act of gun violence or even a stroke.”

Hope is embedded in this program with a goal of having a better family life, making new friends, living a productive life and being able to work again. Participants come to Side by Side’s Clubhouse in Stone Mountain Village to learn how to manage their challenges so they can be productive, contributing family and community members.

With more than 70 sponsors aligned with the support from the thousands of volunteer hours by members of  the Stone Mountain Woman’s Club and the Lilburn Woman’s Club, teamed with the community volunteers who planned and hosted the event, the results were commendable. 8 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to Side by Side’s scholarship fund, providing financial assistance to participate in programming to rebuild their lives after a devastating brain injury.

Goodness manifests in many forms. On this late winer evening on the campus of a heralded public high school, deep in a city lauded as a model of quality living with a widely admired diverse population, the fruits of the efforts by Side by Side were apparent. Laughter, friendly competition and camaraderie combined to produce benefits for a charity whose successful work was apparant on the countless smiling faces in the grandstands. 

Interested in joining, voluntering or sponsoring? www.sidebysideclubhouse.org