It was a rainy night in January 2014 when tragedy struck the Upper West Side. Nine-year-old Cooper Stock was holding his father’s hand, crossing West End Avenue at 97th Street, when a taxi turned and fatally struck him. For the family and friends who loved him, the loss was unfathomable. But in the weeks that followed, one question haunted Cooper’s mother, Dana Lerner: “In 10 years, will anyone even remember who he was?”
Jackie Kern, a close family friend, refused to let the answer be “no.” She remembered Cooper as a boy brimming with joy and energy, especially when it came to basketball. He adored the game and had a special connection to one of its icons: Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier, who ran a youth basketball camp that Cooper had attended. Cooper told his parents his week at camp was the best of his life.
“He was all basketball, all the time,” Jackie told The Spirit. “He actually developed a relationship with Clyde. Cooper was one of those kids whose energy you remembered.”
Just weeks after the accident, Kern approached Lerner with an idea: What if they raised money to send kids from underserved communities to basketball camp in Cooper’s honor? Within months, the first Coop’s Hoops fundraiser was held. That July, just six months after Cooper’s death, the first group of campers headed to the court.
Now entering its 11th year, Coop’s Hoops has sent close to 1,000 kids to basketball camps across New York City. Initially, the program partnered with Frazier’s own camp, but after it closed during the pandemic, Coop’s Hoops transitioned to working with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), which runs high-quality programs attended by current NBA players. Every summer, kids from shelters and underserved communities get the chance to play, learn, and feel like regular kids.
“These kids have quite literally nothing,” Kern said. “They wake up in a homeless shelter, and they go home to one, but for eight hours, they’re just kids playing basketball.”
The impact goes far beyond the game. Campers receive uniforms, lunches, and sneakers if needed. They blend in with everyone else. “No one knows who’s a Coop’s Hoops kid,” said Kern. “And that’s the point: They’re just kids at camp.”
“This is the nicest thing anybody ever did for me,” one attendee wrote in a thank-you letter to the organization. “I love basketball and I always wanted to attend a good basketball clinic. I want to thank you for doing this. I know if Cooper was here he would still be going to camp and playing basketball all the time. My mom said thank you and God Bless you.”
Kern continues to run the program grassroots-style, even with a full-time job, raising money primarily through social media and the support of Cooper’s extended community. “There are no overhead costs,” she said. “Every dollar goes directly to scholarships. We pay all the administrative expenses out of pocket so nothing is diverted.”
Support from Walt Frazier has remained unwavering. “Clyde remembered Cooper,” Kern said. “He’s become one of our biggest donors. He sponsors 10 to 15 scholarships a year, comes to our fundraisers, and meets donors. He’s just a wonderful human being.”
Campers, too, remember Cooper, even though they never met him. At both camps, his name is spoken daily. One special award, The Cooper Stock Most Heart at Camp Award, is given each year to the camper who exhibits the biggest heart—not necessarily the best player, but the one who works the hardest and supports others.
“The trophy is bigger than the kid,” Kern laughed, “but they hold it like it’s gold.”
Kern hopes the program can grow far beyond Manhattan. “My dream is to expand to every major city,” she said. “There are NBPA camps in LA, Miami. . . . We have the infrastructure. We just need the funding.”
“These kids have quite literally nothing. They wake up in a homeless shelter, and they go home to one, but for eight hours, they’re just kids playing basketball.” — Coop’s Hoops co-founder Jackie Kern