The Gustavus Tennis and Life Camps recently received a generous one million dollar donation from Boy and Betty Toy of Mounds View, Minnesota.

The donation will help with the renovation of the Swanson Tennis Center, including expansion and improvements to the tennis facilities.

Neal Hagberg, director of the camps, said that part of the money will be going into the staff developing fund, as the staff were really important to the Toy’s.

Apparently, when the Toy’s visited the camps for the first time in 1983, they were very moved by the camps, specifically the staff that Steve Wilkinson, who founded the Tennis and Life Camps alongside his wife, had hired.

When visiting 35 years later, they said nothing had changed; they were still just as impressed with the program as they were years ago.

“Our first attendance at camp gave us unbelievable mental and physical changes in our daily living. The bottom line is we not only learned how to play better tennis but also how to be better people in life,” the Toys said in an article written by Gustavus Alumni Neal Hagberg.

The Toys donated every year to the camps because of the impression it left on them in 1983.

They were good friends with Steve and Barb Wilkinson and enjoyed giving back to what they have been a part of.

“They believe so strongly in what our mission is in the camp, which is to include all and to be able to focus on the things that are in our control: are attitude, effort, and sportsmanship,” said Hadberg.

“Boy and Betty really wanted to honor Steve’s memory, and to honor barb, and recognize how generous they were to give the camps.”

The Toys both endured life in China during World War II. They lived in small villages not far from each other before their parents immigrated to the United States.

Eventually, they met in Duluth, Minnesota.

“They’ve been together 60 years,” Hadberg said.

“I even wrote them a song… and it was about their having understood struggle and suffering. Because of that, being able to see other people suffering and then realizing what a privilege it is to be able to give back.”

The donation in part will go towards the Tennis and Life Camps’ 40-Love Campaign, the goal being to raise four million dollars in 40 months.

“We’ve raised $3 million with 2 years left to go,” Hadberg said.

The money will also go towards staff development and renovation of the tennis bubble, as well as scholarships for students part of the camps.

“We’re super grateful… they’re rebuilding the bubble and it’s going to be incredible,” First-year tennis player Xavier Sanga said. 

“The couple’s gift will establish the Boy and Betty Toy Endowment Fund to support the Wilkinson Legacy Endowment, which seeks to fulfill the dream of late Tennis and Life Camps founder and former Gustavus Men’s Tennis Coach Steve Wilkinson to continually upgrade the College’s first-class tennis facilities by providing for court maintenance, improvements, and expansion,” Hadberg wrote in his blog.

Wilkinson had spent 39 years in the Gustavus men’s tennis program and compiled 929 wins, more than any other collegiate men’s tennis team. He and his wife, Barbara Wilkinson, founded the Tennis and Life Camps in 1977 and continued changing lives until Steve’s death in 2015.

“Steve and Barb [Wilkinson] are both wonderful and generous individuals who gave so much of their lives to create TLC so others can become better tennis players and more importantly better citizens of our country. We have a deep desire for continuous support of the organization,” the Toys said. 

“In times of great division in this country, Boy and Betty see unity at TLC. They see the diversity we strive for. They see inclusion of all. They knew what it was like being outcast as children. And they know what it is like to be embraced by people who appreciate them and celebrate who they are from the depths to the heights,” Hadberg wrote. “They’re just amazing people… you can’t help but be more generous yourself being around them.”

Hadberg believes that the camps are not just a one-time fun event, its full of things students will take away and use for the rest of their lives.

They not only teach students about tennis, they teach them about life.