Kiera Lyons, a sophomore at Southern High School in Harwood, Maryland (Anne Arundel County) plays on the varsity soccer team & plays club for U-15 Freestate ECNL Storm. She took the lead on organizing a collection drive for Peace Passers, collecting gear from her high school team, Freestate ECLN Storm, U-15 Freestate Wolverines & the U-13 Freestate Fireballs.

Kiera told Peace Passers “I was inspired by a pre-college visit to Notre Dame. After returning from their summer soccer camp, I searched the internet for soccer charities that might need my help. As soon as I discovered the PeacePassers.org website, I knew I found the one! I liked their mission and that Candace was a soccer player. I knew I had a lot of gear I was not using anymore and that my friends did too, so I
decided to start a cleat drive. I asked my high school coach, my club team and my sister’s club teams to contribute. Turns out, many families had used gear they wanted to donate. Overall, I collected 51 pairs of cleats.”

In November Kiera’s high school team made the Maryland State 2A finals for the first time in the school’s history. Right after the finals Kiera traveled to play in the Capital Area League Shootout (CASL) tournament in Raleigh (with club team Freestate Soccer Alliance, Bowie, MD). Kiera explained “After the state finals, my mom and I drove to Raleigh and then the next day, after the CASL game, we drove another couple of hours to Charlotte to meet Candace and drop off the donations. I was really excited to hear they would be getting to Guatemala only a week or so after I brought them.”

Way to go Kiera! Thank you for setting an inspirational example both on and off the field!