On December 7, Deputy Chief of Mission Jane Zimmerman led a contingent of over 20 Embassy volunteers to the SOS Children's Village in north Nicosia for a "Basketball Day." The day was organized to celebrate the installation of two brand-new basketball goalposts donated through a grant from the J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust.

After presenting the children with donated basketballs, Embassy volunteers ran drills with the children and then joined them in a scrimmage. The children proved to have a natural talent for the sport and quickly began running circles against the Embassy squad. At the end of the day, the children enjoyed treats and talk about basketball basics in both English and Turkish with the Embassy staff.