Using the game she loves to make a difference

By Jesse Kopp '11, '12
Published Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Megan Osmer ’06 decided around this time last year to place a donation box inside the University of Washington’s women’s basketball locker room during senior clean out.  The team sent all of the equipment it collected to Hoops for Haiti, a non-profit organization based in Illinois that donates items to the ravaged country.  Osmer, the team’s director of basketball operations, said, “They need to clean out their lockers anyway, why not do some good with it.”  

The Washington Huskies Women’s Basketball team will continue to work with Hoops for Haiti with Osmer continuing to lead the effort.  They hope to improve the quality of youth basketball in Haiti.  Osmer has a special place in her heart for the country of Haiti as she visited the country with Lynn University’s former men’s assistant basketball coach Zach Walker in May 2011. Megan was part of the first group to return to Haiti with Food for the Poor.  Through Hoops for Haiti, Osmer aims to keep the Huskies involved to help spread the game of basketball throughout Haiti.  Megan is having much success on the court with Washington’s women’s basketball team, but it’s what she is doing off the court that is really changing peoples’ lives.