EAST MOLINE -- An event circled around basketball is shooting to bring the community together.
On Tuesday, August 8th, Hereford Park in East Moline will be packed with community members attending "Hoops 4 Hope."
There will be free food, basketball and bounce houses and prize giveaways.
This is the second year the event Hoops 4 Hope will take place at Hereford Park in East Moline.
Last year, the event brought out 200 to 300 people
The event aims at bringing the community and police officers together through a game of one-on-one.
The event hoops 4 hope was created in 2016 by a man named Kannon Burrage. Burrage is originally from East Moline and plays basketball overseas in Australia. He was previously in Singapore.
When Burrage came back to the states last year, he noticed a major divide between officers and communities across the nation – specifically around the time when tensions with officers and the community were high in Baton Rouge, LA., Dallas, TX., and Ferguson, MO.
Burrage decided to use his passion for basketball and unite the community on the court. He got in touch with Captain Thomas Reagan from the East Moline police department who helped make the event happen.
“It was one guy coming to the police department and saying ‘hey, I'm passionate about basketball, so how about we use that as an avenue to get together?’ what I think is the best part of this day is that it's a grass roots effort,” said Capt. Thomas Reagan.
While Burrage is overseas, former Augustana forward, Tayvian Johnson is helping organize the event.
"Hoops 4 Hope really just puts a face to a name for the people who we see in our community everyday," said Johnson. "It's a signification that we are trying to improve the relationships in the community."
He met up with WQAD during the good morning quad cities show to shoot some hoops with news 8 Jesyka Dereta. She wasn’t the best at shooting but Johnson coached her through and taught her some basic skills.
Hoops 4 Hope is an all ages event. Hoops 4 Hope goes from 5 to 8 p.m and Hereford Park on August 8.
See more one-on-one with Tayvian and Jesyka here:
Sponsors of the event include; AD Huesing, Adolph’s of East Moline, Bank Orion, Blaze Restoration, Dr. Gyros/Doc’s Inn – John Stopoulous, Happy Joe’s East Moline, Optimist Breakfast Club East Moline, Green Chevrolet, IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union, Olde Town Bakery, Police Benevolent Fund, QC Bouncy, Vibrant Credit Union, East Moline Main Street and the East Moline Police Department.