Madison Keys awards a ‘Medal of Kindness’ to Indian Wells community leader

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On a day dedicated to celebrating kindness, Madison Keys used her platform to highlight the efforts of a Coachella Valley tennis community leader with a ‘Medal of Kindness’.

Keys launched the non-profit Kindness Wins in early 2020 and as its 'founding champion', she works to promote kindness by helping to create grants and highlight acts of kindness, big or small. She also awards the Medal of Kindness to express appreciation "for those whose personal efforts emphasize kindness to self, kindness to youth and kindness to others in times of struggle".

On Wednesday, Keys awarded the medal to Larry Salas for his efforts to promote youth tennis in Coachella Valley and his involvement with the BNP Paribas Open for the past 10 years. Salas has also been instrumental in organizing the BNP Paribas Open Scholarship Awards Program, which awards scholarships to four area high school students.

“I was really happy to be able to recognize someone with a Medal of Kindness who has been an important part of the tournament, and introducing youth to opportunities in the sport and in academics here locally, for a long time,” Keys said. “There are so many people behind the scenes who work so hard to make this tournament one of the best in the world and Larry is definitely one of them, so I’m excited to honor him for all his hard work at this event and in this community.”

Past Medal of Kindness recipients include Bob Moran and Eleanor Davis for their work on and off the court at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston. Learn more about Kindness Wins.

Keys, the No. 25 seed, will begin her Indian Wells campaign against Misaki Doi in the second round.