Emirates helps out

Those donating a tennis racquet at this year’s Rogers Cup in Toronto from Aug. 4-12 will help kids. Thousands of inner-city children will have an opportunity to swing their own tennis racquets thanks to Emirates airline’s Racquet Return Program, returning for its fifth year in support of the Doug Philpott Inner City Children’s Tennis Fund. Launched at the 2008 Rogers Cup in Toronto, the Emirates Racquet Return Program will expand this summer to select US Open Series events across North America, including Los Angeles, New Haven and New York. Tennis racquets, preferably junior-sized ones, will be collected by Emirates’ representatives at the main entrance gate at Rexall Centre, York University. Emirates will donate the used tennis racquets from Rogers Cup fans to the Doug Philpott Fund, which reaches 4,500 of Toronto’s inner-city youth each summer. As part of the program, Emirates has also committed to giving away more than $10,000 worth of junior sized racquets to a variety of under-serviced areas and charities across the country throughout the remainder of 2012 and into 2013, and Doug Philpott Tennis Fund, in Toronto and select Little Aces Tennis Programs across Canada. Racquet donations give fans a chance to win two tickets to the 2012 US Open final on Sept. 9 in New York. The donated tennis racquets will be distributed among 11 summer camps in the Toronto area. The Doug Philpot Inner-City Children’s Fund will provide inner-city youth with ongoing access to tennis during the program’s camps and beyond. Emirates is the title sponsor of the Emirates Airline US Open Series and official airline of the Rogers Cup.