Andre Agassi's charitable foundation makes a difference

When Tyesha Sykes, 17, was growing up on the west side, there was no place to go after school and nothing to do.

So, like many of the kids in her neighborhood, she roamed the streets, hung out with gang members and experimented with drugs.

Then one day, when she was 8 years old, she noticed a flier advertising a party at the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas. Sykes decided to go to the party to see what kind of free refreshments would be served -- "You know when there's a party, there's food," she says.

But when she got there, she was surprised to discover a comfortable place where she could get help with her homework, shoot hoops with other kids, or just curl up with a book. "And then after that, I got to know all about the club and what it can do for you," she says.

"It's like a second home to me. I would rather be here than out on the streets doing drugs and committing crimes."

Getting a boost

When Sykes first began coming to the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas, the west side unit was in an aging 4,900-square-foot building on north Martin Luther King Boulevard. The center "was OK, but it wasn't really a place that attracted kids," says Ginger Trueblood, director of Community Relations & Development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas. "It didn't have a lot of amenities."

Then the organization got an unexpected boost: a $1.2 million pledge toward a new center from the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, a non-profit organization set up in 1994 by the Las Vegas-based tennis star to fund local children's charities.

The foundation's annual fund-raiser, "An Intimate Celebration," takes places today and Saturday.

With Agassi's help, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas last spring opened a brand new 20,000-square-foot center, just a block away from the old building, with expanded facilities to serve 2,000 local kids.

More than four times the size of the old building, the new center has freshly painted blue and white walls and a new-carpet smell, and features: a huge gymnasium; a library with big armchairs for reading; a cafeteria where kids can get a hot, catered meal, compliments of Harrah's hotel-casino; and a computer room filled with color monitors, a laser printer, a library of CD-Roms and computer games, and 14 brand new state-of-the-art computers -- also donated by Agassi's foundation -- where kids can do their homework or play games.

"I think the computer room is the heart of the program," says Stan Breland, director of the Andre Agassi Unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas, watching several kids, including Sykes, hunched over their computer screens.

Jennifer Smith, 11, clicks her mouse and a strain of orchestra music bursts forth, filling the room with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Smith closes her eyes blissfully, hums and pretends to play along on an imaginary violin. "I can play this on the violin," she says, leaning forward and scanning the Compton's Encyclopedia computer file for another classical composition to play. "I'm studying Mozart and Beethoven." Smith has been coming to the new center since it opened last spring. "I heard that you got in free, and I was like 'take me!' "

Across from Smith, 14-year-old Colundra Owens peers solemnly at her screen, where she is composing her autobiography for a school assignment. Owens, who has decided to pursue a career in "CIS," or "computer information systems," says Agassi's decision to donate the computers to the center, "was real nice."

The voice of a civil rights activist rings out from a computer in the corner, while the Mozart piece fades away. Near the window, a small girl plays Ms. Pacman, while Kerri Heaps, the club's educational director -- whose salary is paid entirely by Agassi's foundation -- wanders throughout the room, offering help with homework.

Sykes -- who is now a senior in high school with a 4.0 grade point average and is looking forward to studying electrical engineering at college next year -- still comes to the center every afternoon after school to help kids with school work. Breland, who remembers what a quiet, withdrawn young girl Sykes used to be, is amazed at the strides she's made as a result of both her own efforts and the program. "We've been very fortunate to have her because she's a great leader, and it's had a ripple effect with the rest of the kids."

A nine-year veteran of the Boys & Girls Clubs programs, Sykes appreciates more than most kids the luxury that Agassi's foundation gift has afforded the center. "There's more space, better quality," she says. "It's been an improvement in my life, and in the other children's lives."

Big bucks

In the three years since its creation, Agassi's foundation has raised more than $4.5 million to help local kids through organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas. Much of the money comes from the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation's annual concert fundraiser held annually for the past two years at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

This year's event will feature performances by pop star Elton John, who sits on the foundation's board of directors, comedian Jay Leno, Grammy Award-winning producer David Foster, and singers Celine Dion, Lionel Richie and Clint Black. The concert, which entertained nearly 25,000 people in its first two years, has sold out for the third year in a row.

"We hope to raise about $2 million," says Julie Walther, executive director and senior vice president of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, who also serves as executive producer of the event. "This is the biggest fund-raiser in Las Vegas, I think, and is probably one of the biggest in the country."

Because of Agassi's insistence that the foundation avoid spending charitable donations on staff salaries, administrative costs, supplies or other overhead expenses, all the money raised this weekend (and throughout the year) will go "directly to helping children," Walther says. In keeping with the mission of the foundation, it will be given to local groups -- like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas -- that offer educational and recreational opportunities to underprivileged kids.

Among the many local groups the foundation has funded is the Assistance League of Las Vegas' Operation School Bell, a program that provides clothes and toiletries to kids to encourage school attendance; The Cynthia Bunker Memorial Scholarship Fund, which pays full tuition for two qualifying full-time students at the UNLV's College of Performing Arts; The Nevada Tennis Association's Project Serve, which offers tennis lessons to "at-risk" kids; and Child Haven, a shelter for abused and neglected children, which will soon feature the Agassi Center for Education (ACE) to provide on-site classes for the kids in the shelter.

"We're also giving money to the Higher Education Enhancement Act, and we're doing that in partnership with the city of Las Vegas," Walther says. "It's kind of interesting because it provides a means for economically disadvantaged youth to attain a community college education based on the individual's desire to succeed, and not on athleticism or high scores, high GPA, or privileged academic status.

"Andre wanted to start helping children," she continues, explaining Agassi's decision to set up the foundation. "It's very unusual for someone in the middle oftheir career to decide 'I've received so much and I want to give back.' " But, she adds, "being out on the tour and seeing so many children ... he realized the best way he could help service, or offer opportunities, was by establishing his own foundation."

More than money

Agassi's commitment to the Boys & Girls Club that bears his name goes beyond just signing the check.

Sometimes the tennis star will stop by the center unannounced and pass out free basketballs, footballs and other sports equipment to the kids, Breland says. "Andre's not the kind of person that would need the media around to do something," he says. "He always makes a point to get by and see the kids and sign autographs. His presence is always felt and the Agassi Foundation is always calling (to ask): 'Do you guys need anything?' "

Sykes agrees: "Andre's a terrific guy," she says. "He came up a whole bunch of times -- I really appreciate it."

One unanticipated result of the foundation's gift has been the emergence of a fan club among many kids on the west side who never really followed tennis before.

The day after the U.S. Open was broadcast, the kids came in talking about Agassi's performance. "It was a late match but the kids stayed up to watch it," Breland says.

"It's evident the kids are really proud of him. They changed the 'Men in Black' song to 'The Agassi Defenders.' "

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