Posted: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:07 AM - 9,135 Readers

By: Aden Holasek

On July 27, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Royal Ivey and supermodel Brooklyn Decker encouraged children attending Camp Glimmer–a day camp on Lake Travis for underprivileged children living in Austin–to be themselves.

Royal Ivey's take on success

“I'm not the tallest; I'm not the fastest; I'm not the strongest,” Ivey said, “but I work hard.”

Ivey told campers he may be in the NBA now, but it didn't come easily.

“I had to stay in the gym; I worked day in and day out, and I still was not immediately recruited [by universities],” he said. Ivey conceded that his sports acumen was better than his academics, but that he is very close to finishing his four-year degree in elementary education, with which he plans on using to open a charter school.

To kids who live in poverty, a mansion can be the symbol of success. Ivey is living proof to them that bling is not the only way to show one's success. When asked if he lived in a mansion, he responded, “In a mansion? No. I live in a townhouse and save my money. I don't need a mansion, just something livable.”

Brooklyn Decker shares her success

Also at Camp Glimmer, Brooklyn Decker spoke on behalf of the Andy Roddick Foundation which has donated $95,000 to Camp Glimmer since 2003. Although representing the foundation named after her tennis-star husband, Decker's advice to the kids came from her own experience and success–Decker recently appeared on the cover of the 2010 swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.

Decker invited questions at the end of her speech. One girl asked how much she weighed when she started modeling. Decker leaned in to the young inquirer, said it was harder for female models than male models, but?without missing a beat?she added, “My dad told me to be the best I could be. When I followed that advice is when I became successful.”

Steps toward success

In addition to listening to advice from a famous sports star and a supermodel, each child attending Camp Glimmer receives a new pair of running shoes, the cost of which is predominately picked up by Craig Millikin of the Austin Tennis Academy and Paul Carrozza, owner of RunTex and a board member of Shoes for Austin.

About the camp and foundation

Camp Glimmer is just one arm of the foundation, A Glimmer of Hope, created in 2003 by Donna and Philip Berber. The couple began the foundation to help the citizens of Ethiopia receive clean water, schools, health care and micro financial loans. Three years later, they became acutely aware of a different face of poverty right here in Austin.

“We saw a deep poverty of the soul,” said Donna. She explained that the Austin residents they serve may not be starving, but they suffer from social injustices, educational disadvantages and abandonment.

“Some of these kids have never even been outside of East Austin,” she said.

Camp Glimmer is free to the more than 300 children who attend each year and allows them an opportunity to play sports, create in the fine arts, learn from influential speakers and just have fun. They spend three days a week at Camp Glimmer for two months. The first two days of each week the campers go to the Camp Glimmer property on Lake Travis, participating in activities and listening to speakers, then on the third day, they visit a nearby theme park.

The Berbers, who sold their online trading firm to Charles Schwab back in 2000, have funded a $100 million endowment to cover overhead costs for A Glimmer of Hope Foundation. That allows 100 percent of each donation to go directly to those in need. A Glimmer of Hope has improved the lives of more than 2.5 million people in Ethiopia and Central Texas. The results of this work placed the Berber's and their foundation at No. 6 on Barron's list of best givers worldwide in Nov. 2009, just before Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at No. 7.

*  Story Contributed by: Aden Holasek