Havre De Grace Youth Basketball Wins $1,000 In Social Media Contest

HAVRE DE GRACE - Lisa Belcher, Vice President of the Havre de Grace Parks and Recreation Warriors Youth Basketball Program, is the winner of Freedom Federal Credit Union's 5th Annual #FreedomtoHelpChallenge.

The five-week social media contest called for entrants to post pictures celebrating Harford or Baltimore County volunteerism for a chance to win $1,000 and other weekly prizes for their local charity of choice.

"This competition brought to light just how invested our program participants are," Belcher told the credit union. It was a matter of sending out emails and text messages saying, 'I need you to like our program's basketball picture on Freedom Federal Credit Union's page,' and in a matter of minutes, we had hundreds of votes.

Belcher is no stranger to Freedom's viral social media contests. Over the summer, she submitted several creative photos to Freedom's well-known #SummerofFreedomFCU photo contest, winning both a weekly contest and an honorable mention in the grand finale.

When she discovered another social media challenge geared towards local non-profits, Belcher knew this was her moment.

She used her experience to win the most votes for her beloved youth basketball program, which always needs uniforms, equipment, and many other out-of-pocket expenses.

"That 24-hour grand finale was a real nail-biter because I could see the numbers increasing for the other non-profit participants, and the winning program was not announced until the very end," Belcher added.

The Basketball Program's Board of Directors will decide how to spend the funds. Belcher mentioned several times that it would be tempting to put it towards new uniforms. Still, they'll be considering league, equipment, and other expenses to ensure the maximum benefit to the program.

Lisa Belcher, along with several representatives from their board and four of their teams, were honored in a check presentation held at Meadowvale Elementary School by Freedom Federal Credit Union's President and CEO, Mike MacPherson, and key staff members involved in the challenge, including Carmen David Mirabile, Lisa Snodgrass, and Ashira Quabili, who acted as contest facilitator.