It didn’t take long for the Carly Stowell Foundation to jump out on a fast break, as evidenced in the nest egg that was raised at its first major fundraiser, but its founders decided to slow things down a bit before launching another big fundraising effort.

The foundation was started by Chuck and Elena Stowell after the sudden death of their daughter, Carly, in April 2007. She was a freshman at Kentlake at the time of her death, which was caused by a heart arrhythmia she suffered while on a club basketball trip to North Carolina.

Carly Stowell was a rising star on the Falcons basketball team and a talented musician. The foundation that bears her name supports youth pursuing their dreams in music or sports.

After taking a year off from a major fundraiser, Elena Stowell said, the foundation decided to slow things down a bit “because things grew so quickly. We did an auction our first year and it was really successful. We had it in the summer. It was a community event. But, last year we had a cart before the horse feeling because things grew so quickly.”

So, they chose to take a step back in 2008.

In February the board had a strategic meeting to discuss the direction of the foundation and to make sure it could keep up with the pace of its own growth.

A decision was made to not do another gala fundraiser like the foundation hosted in its first year, Stowell said, with the idea to perhaps do three smaller events instead.

But her husband looked at the calendar and saw there were no events scheduled for Nov. 21, no games, no playoffs, so he said, “Let’s have a function,” Stowell explained.

“That’s kind of how it started,” she said. “The idea was why not make it into a little fundraiser and have a dinner and get all the Jammin’ families to come.”

The foundation offers organized youth sports teams as part of its Jammin’ program in volleyball and basketball.

This small idea has grown into a full fledged event with a sports jamboree scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Nov. 21 at Stone Mountain Flooring in Auburn followed by an Italian dinner, dancing, music by students, Chuck Stowell’s band Second Wind and a silent auction.

Greg Kaas, a teacher and coach at Kentlake, will be the emcee, Stowell said.

“He’s fabulous and absolutely hilarious,” she said. “It’ll be nice to raise a little money, but the idea is to bring people in, to let them see what we do. We want to promote it as a celebration of how far we’ve come.”

Stowell said she believes the foundation has provided nearly $10,000 for youths to participate in music programs, private lessons or sports teams.

While any money generated at the event will help, Stowell said, it’s also important for the foundation to remain focused on managing its growth as an organization in a sustainable way by developing a business plan and strategies for the foundation.

Then again, Stowell said, they wouldn’t turn down a $100,000 endowment for the foundation if someone who could write that kind of checked came to the fundraiser.

“Who knows, maybe the right person will walk in,” she said. “Otherwise, we’ll continue doing what we’ve been doing. It’s been a blessing and we’ve been able to help a lot of kids.”