As I reported late last month when she was being honored for her philanthropic endeavors, Connecticut Sun star Tina Charles has started a foundation which will purchase defibrillators for schools.

She has already donated nearly $15,000 to purchase 10 Automatic External Defibrillators and has pledged to purchase and donate an AED for every double-double she has this season.

Here are more details courtesy of a press release being send out by the Connecticut Sun on Charles' behalf.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (May 7, 2013) – WNBA MVP Tina Charles announced she has established The Tina Charles Heart of Hope Foundation (TCHH) in memory of her aunt Maureen “Hopey” Vaz, who died of multiple organ failure on March 9, 2013.

The TCHH Foundation will host a grant program to supply eligible schools or recreational centers with life-saving Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) equipment. Charles has already donated $14,775 to purchase 10 AEDs and she has pledged to purchase one new AED for each double-double she records during the 2013 WNBA Season. The Connecticut Sun center has the two highest single-season double-double totals (23 in 2011; 22 in 2010) in WNBA history

“The Foundation’s mission is to provide AEDs to schools and other institutions across the U.S.,” Charles said. “I specifically chose AEDs after being inspired by a story on ESPN about Wes Leonard, a high school basketball player in Michigan who was struck by sudden cardiac arrest and passed away because his school did not have an AED on sight. I then donated five AED's to the Wes Leonard Heart Team and five to the New York City Department of Education.”

The grant program will award AEDs quarterly, and participants will be required to complete a 500-word application and waiver form agreeing to terms and policies of the program.

“I started the Tina Charles Heart of Hope Foundation because it is a memory of my aunt Maureen,” Charles said. “My aunt had an immediate impact on everyone she met. With her smile, her words of wisdom and her walk with Christ showing her faith in God through all she had done. After my aunt passed this was my way of impacting and saving people's lives and carrying on her legacy, showing the heart of hope.”

The Tina Charles Heart of Hope Foundation is committed to providing AEDs nationally. For more information, visit www.hopeysheart.org.