Paul Savramis, founder of Rising Stars Youth Foundation, recently hosted the non-profit’s 2018 Meet and Greet for Rising Stars student athletes at Adelphi University. Savramis explained what this annual event entails and how Rising Stars scholarships have a lasting impact on the students, their families, and the community.

Q: What is the purpose of the Meet and Greet event?

Paul Savramis: The Meet and Greet is a yearly event that introduces the Rising Stars Scholarship recipients to the members of the board. It is a chance for these students and their families to meet the men and women behind the scenes of Rising Stars and for our benefactors to meet firsthand the lives they have touched through their generosity.

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On a cold January night in New York, more than a dozen girls came together in a cell phone-free zone to talk about something important: each other. Paul Savramis, Rising Stars Youth Foundation founder, shares info on the Beautiful Me workshop in the following brief Q&A.

Q: What is Beautiful Me?

Paul Savramis: Beautiful Me is a self-esteem workshop we put on regularly for the girls in our youth programs. Essentially, it is a night that allows our girls’ teams to interact with each other and learn to appreciate their teammates’ positive qualities beyond the free throw.

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In early 2018, Rising Stars made an important change to its website and overall future outlook.. Here, Rising Stars Founder and President Paul Savramis explains the launch of Rising Stars Youth Foundation.com. and the organizations “new” look.

Q: What does the addition of the term “Youth Foundation” mean for Rising Stars?

Paul Savramis: Our title as Rising Stars Inc. never truly defined the scope of our work nor was it a clear presentation of what we were. There were not many Rising Stars in 1996 and we were the only ones associated with youth sports and education. As the years past many others began using the name in one form or another and it began to really get confusing.

We actually developed a site “About Rising Stars Inc.” that helped to separate and better describe our identity and the two working models ..athletics and academics that were at the core of Rising Stars..

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September was a busy month for parents, teachers, and students getting back into the swing of things for the 2017/2018 school year. Paul Savramis, founder of Rising Stars, reports that despite tedious schedules, there was a full house at the organization’s recent college night. Savramis offers a few details below.

Q: What was the main topic of discussion at the event?

Paul Savramis: Pinnacle Consultants, the group that led our seminar, focused on applications for college. Many hopeful college students and their families find that process confusing or have trouble understanding what documents are required. Pinnacle walked them through the admissions process, thereby giving our student athletes the confidence (and tools) to move forward.

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Recently a handful of Rising Star student athletes spent the evening volunteering with New York’s Homeless Bus, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing food and other basic necessities for the area’s homeless population. Rising Star’s founder Paul Savramis says having the opportunity to see the long lines of men, women, and children waiting for food and supplies was a meaningful experience to the young volunteers.

Q: What is the Homeless Bus?

Paul Savramis: The Homeless Bus was founded in 1992 by Director Mark Landgrebe and his wife Anna after the couple attended a seminar that introduce them to a program in Hawaii that fed homeless people during the holidays. Today, the Homeless Bus serves a warm meal and provides essentials such as socks and personal sized toiletries to New York City’s homeless population.

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Rising Stars founder and President Paul Savramis, recently announced that Open Season a grassroots program from the Great South Bay area of Long Island will soon become a part of the Rising Stars’ family.

According to Paul Savramis, this is just one of three recent community outreach programs initiated by Rising Stars. The Great South Bay of Long Island has seen an increase in the number of youth searching for basketball program in recent years. Paul Savramis believes a partnership between Open Season and Rising Stars will not only help to fill this need it will also create awareness in providing families from the area additional information of safe and nurturing environments available to them.

Paul Savramis reports that Rising Stars has seen great success from outreach programs over the past 12 months, including sponsorship of the Alzheimer’s Basketball Classic and the Academic+ program at the Great South Bay YMCA. Continue reading →