Tina Charles shows charitable side, builds school in Mali

UNCASVILLE -- There were no throngs of well-wishers, not even one pesky journalist and nary a camera or microphone could be located when the image came across the computer screen.

Tina Charles -- who was still a teenager when a chance sighting of a shirt worn by actress Jennifer Aniston piqued her curiosity and triggered a desire to make a difference -- was reduced to tears as she and close friend Kalana Greene saw villagers half a world away holding up signs expressing their gratitude to Charles' compassion and philanthropic spirit.

During Charles' sophomore year at UConn she saw Aniston wearing an OmniPeace t-shirt. Her first reaction was to find out a little more about the organization. Her next step was to vow to get involved when she was financially able.

While she is not the first college student to state a desire to make a difference in the world, Charles followed through on her pledge.

Advertisement

She reached out to OmniPeace founder and CEO Mary Fanaro and Chief Operating Officer of the Stamford-based buildOn Marc Friedman late last year and made it abundantly clear that she wanted to get involved.

After meeting with both of them, Charles decided she would fund the building of a school in a village in Mali. However, Charles wanted to do more than just write a check and receive accolades for her wonderful gesture. She wanted to be directly involved in the project.

And that she was.

While her basketball schedule as well as the unrest in Mali prevented her from heading to Africa personally, she took charge of the charitable endeavor in every other area.

"I have a discerning heart, I am a Christian," said Charles, who became OmniPeace's first sports ambassador. "God uses people to do his work and I am going out there and trying to shine my light as I go.

"In the states everything is given to us. You have public school, you can go to Catholic school but I don't think you really take it in how great our situation is. When you think you have it bad, somebody always has it worse off."

Charles donated $32,000 towards the building of the school, which will serve students from grades-1-6.

"It is based on education and illiteracy for kids and that is one of the things people can never go wrong in," Charles said. "Some people donate food, water; They go over there and do missions. This is one area that I can help, and I wanted to be in education."

She knew she would be making a difference, but it wasn't until Friedman emailed her a photo of the school when it all hit home.

"I thought it was just going to be the school, but it was kids outside with signs saying 'Thank you,'" Charles said. "It really had me teary eyed, and I forwarded it to my mother, my dad and they were really emotional and proud of me just to do such a big thing."

Not as outwardly gregarious as her former UConn teammates like Greene, Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore, Charles projects a more reserved persona to those who are not in her inner circle. However, to those people who have seen Charles let her guard down, her generosity and giving spirit doesn't come as a surprise.

"She has always been generous," Greene said. "She has always been selfless with everything, and if you don't know her, you wouldn't know that about her. She is always giving. Sometimes she never cares about herself as much as she cares about making others happy and wants others to have the same opportunity that she has. When I see her do things like that, it is no surprise and don't be surprised to see more like that.

"The thing I love about her is it is not about just writing a check and say, 'I did this, it's a tax write off.' For her, to see it happen to be excited about it, to see it come together and be done it brings tears to her eyes. She is really passionate about it. She really wants people to have opportunities that she has never had or opportunities that she has had. I have never seen somebody that genuine about caring for others. I kind of look at her like Angelina Jolie. She is a humanitarian. She was talking last night about 'I want to go to Africa, I want to go over them, see it and be a part of it.' It is real special to see all of this unfold right before my eyes."

During the latter portion of her collegiate career and certainly during her brief but incredibly impactful pro career with the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, Charles' calling card has been her relentlessness. It is a quality that also exists when she is away from the court as well as both Friedman and Fanaro have witnessed first hand.

"She did what she said she was going to do," Fanaro said. "Yes, people can write checks and certainly living in Hollywood, I have seen it several times. I sort of have a knack of detecting the difference between who is just writing a check and the authenticity of wanting to not just write the check but get involved. You can tell her commitment, it was obvious by her showing up (with a meeting in Los Angeles with Fanaro).It was obvious by the questions that she has asked. She has continued to stay in touch with me for, it's got to be over a year. Just (looking for) updates and what she is doing, 'how are you? Getting ready to build the school I got the funds for the school. Let's build it.' It unfolded very seamlessly and I was impressed. I was impressed, I was flattered and I was glad to be in business with her."

Friedman, who is looking to extend his company's partnership with Charles to include her getting involved with the after school education program with the Bridgeport public high schools, was able to meet with Tina and her mother on multiple occasions and it didn't take long for Friedman to see how important the project was to both mother and daughter.

"I met her in December," Friedman said. "I met with her and her mom and explained the whole program to them. It was really nice; she really wanted to make sure her mom knew what the investment was. We were building a school and I would keep in touch with her but more importantly she would reach out to me almost on a weekly basis making sure the school is on time, we were under budget and when the coup occurred in Mali she was really concerned about the people in Mali and wanting to make sure the school was going to get complete but really concerned about the people in her village. I think it showed how beautiful of a humanitarian there was inside of Tina that not many people see because they don't know her. It was beautiful to see and understand how much she cares about helping others who don't have as much as she has."

While Charles is thrilled to see photos of the school and the village residents who will benefit from it, what she really would love to do is see the school and village with her own eyes.

"We are really hoping one day we can get her to the village so she can meet some of the kids in person," Friedman said. "It shows a lot about who she is and her character. This is something that she wanted to do; she had the means to do it. For her the important thing was creating an education for these kids in the village."

As impressive a gesture it was by Charles in using her own money to fund this project, fund-raising veterans like Fanaro and Friedman came away more impressed by Charles' character than the amount of her monetary contribution to the building of the school.

"She doesn't try to impress anybody, she is who she is and she is OK with that," Fanaro said. "That is rare. There is a rare, very genuine sometimes child-like shyness, sensitivity, inquisitiveness about her. It is a really wonderful quality. You detect those in her immediately; it is not like you have to hang out with her weeks to find that out. She is very much who she is, which is a woman who is comfortable in her own skin."