Test Your Ping Pong Skills and Help Children in Foster Care on April 6

Hillsides, a Southern California foster care charity, is putting its own spin on fundraising by hosting the third annual Battle of the Paddles ping pong tournament  on April 6  at the SPiN Standard in Downtown Los Angeles.

Local businesses and individuals sign up to sponsor teams and to vie for both a team and individual championship.  The individual winner will take home, the Costa Cup trophy, named after Joseph M. Costa, Hillsides president and chief executive officer. The money raised from the tournament will be used for the charity’s on-going capital improvement project, which will re-imagine the Hillsides Pasadena campus with a new student center, playing fields, and new dining commons, among other improvements.  The Pasadena campus houses a Residential Treatment Services program for children in foster care or who cannot live at home for other reasons and a school, the Hillsides Education Center, for students in kindergarten through 12th grade with social-emotional, learning and/or behavioral challenges.

“We encourage everyone to come to this fundraiser to compete for the coveted Costa Cup or to watch as a spectator,” said Hillsides Chief Advancement Officer Carrie Espinoza. “This is a really fun way to spend an evening and at the same time, help the 125 children we serve annually at the residential program and the 130 students at the school.”

The “Battle of the Paddles” tournament is slated from 5 – 8 p.m. Individual tickets are $250 and the cost to watch as a spectator is $50. To sign up, please contact Bernie Gore at 323-543-2800, ext. 253, or bgore@hillsides.org or visit http://www.hillsides.org/events/battle-paddles-hillsides-ping-pong-tournament.

The SPiN Standard is located at 550 S. Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071. Tickets include two cocktails and hearty hors d’oeuvres.