Sisters Caitlin & Paige Jacobson hosted a collection drive for Peace Passers on April 12th at the Julian Brown Soccer Tournament sponsored by Charlotte United Futbol Club.
And while Paige was playing in the soccer tournament, friend Sara Kathryn McKormick stepped in to sit at the collection booth with Caitlin.
Big thanks to the Jacobson sisters for showing an excellent example of service leadership on and off the field!
Logan Thompson & Mitch Sanford with the Charlotte Eagles Soccer Club sharing soccer ball donations from Peace Passers in Kenya! Check out the good work they are doing: http://maisoccer.com/home/791256.html
Gear sent from Shore Christian Center Church out of Wall, New Jersey arrived to Pastor Nathan Mukhwana in Kenya. Thanks to everyone that shipped donations for this distribution and special shout out to Judi Grobosky for helping coordinate receiving all of the donations in NJ. The kids were so excited to receive all of the amazing soccer equipment!
Congrats to Malan for completing his Eagle Scout project with Peace Passers.
“When I used leadership I found out how much one person can do with an idea if they are willing to act on that idea for the benefit of others.” – Malan Mortensen
These are the kind of stories worth announcing on the loud speaker. This past year, 14 year-old Christian Callahan from Foothills Ranch, CA has been working towards earning his Eagle Scout rank. Inspiring others in his community to give back Christian organized a free skills clinic for youth age 5-12 and encouraged each participant to bring a new or used soccer item to donate. Callahan worked diligently to communicate his Peace Passers project plan to teammates, coaches, parents, boy scouts and even made the local news in the process! By the end of the project Christian collected 710 pieces of soccer equipment and rallied 65 volunteers to help him sort, pack and count the gear.
To top it off Christian was able to secure a company to sponsor the shipment of gear to Decatur, GA where it will go to support Bridging the Gap Africa, serving youth and adults in Sierra Leone. The Barrie family is organizing a crate shipment to Sierra Leone this September so all of Christian’s gear donations will be traveling across the ocean by next month. Christian told Peace Passers “After the project it feels like a great accomplishment that you have done something good for the world.”
Thank you Christian and congratulations on your Eagle Scout rank!
Take a look at all the “presents” Logan collected for her 9 year-old birthday! For the past 3 years in lieu of gifts for her birthday, Logan has chosen a charity to support. She has donated to a local children’s hospital twice, the Make a Wish Foundation, and this year she chose Peace Passers as her charity of choice. She and her 2 sisters are avid soccer players and all play on competitive teams in their hometown. At her birthday party, Logan’s friends brought new and used soccer gear and also raised $205 dollars for Peace Passers. Anytime funds are collected in addition to the equipment it is a huge help for our organization to continue doing this good work. Logan will ship her donated birthday presents to Ballston Lake, NY where the soccer equipment will then be distributed to Uganda via a collaborative organization The Giving Circle. A very special thank you happy birthday to Logan! If you or someone you know is interested in hosting a fundraiser collection please email peacepassersinfo@gmail.com to get started.
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!
With the season of thanks upon us there’s no better time to bring thanks to a recent donation made by Lexxi Martini from Albany, New York. Lexxi is currently in her first year of college at the University of Connecticut, School of Business. Before heading to college this past fall, as part of a service project Lexxi organized a collection of used soccer gear from her community and team mates. Lexxi (4th from left in picture) was a 4 year Varsity player for the Guilderland Girls High School Varsity Soccer team. All together Lexxi collected over 75 high school and junior varsity team jerseys, warm ups and shorts including over a dozen cleats and turf shoes. All of this equipment is now headed to Afghanistan.
James Gorman is a soldier in the U.S. Army and is presently deployed in Afghanistan. James has spent his free time volunteering at a local school in Kandahar serving 75 boys age 6 to16. In an area of the world where the atmosphere is often volatile & threatening, the game of soccer provides a positive outlet for the boys at this school. While volunteering James observed the need for soccer equipment and took initiative to seek out resources where gear might be available, which is when he contacted Peace Passers.
Much appreciation goes to Mr. Gary Martini (Lexxi’s dad) for reaching out to Peace Passers to help in identifying where to send the collected gear. After Peace Passers connected Lexxi’s collection to the request from James, Gary helped facilitate & fund the shipment to Afghanistan.
James told us “I know the boys will be so excited. They have grown up in such a harsh environment, and it is important that they have a chance to just be kids.” A Peace Passers thank you to Lexxi, the Lady Dutch players, Gary Martini and to James for his efforts beyond the call of duty! Peace, play & soccer for all.
“I felt inspired to help because I love soccer and I don’t know what I would do without it” – Sean
An Eagle Scout Service Project is the opportunity for a Scout in the Boy Scouts of America to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of his community. In order to complete this endeavor, 15 year-old Sean McManus reached out to Peace Passers. All in all Sean collected over 1,000 items of soccer gear from his community in Spotsylvania, VA.
After Sean and his fellow troops counted and organized the equipment Peace Passers connected him to a collaborative partner Chris Crane who’s efforts are focused in Nicaragua with The Pulsera Project (check out www.pulseraproject.org ). With a packed SUV, Sean & his dad drove the gear 3 ½ hours from their home in Spotsylvania, VA to meet Chris in West Chester, PA. Chris Crane explained “The soccer equipment that Sean collected and donated to Peace Passers will go to youth in Nicaragua living in the poor neighborhoods of San Marcos, Masaya, Managua, as well as to a youth shelter on Ometepe Island, called Sí a la Vida. In all of these locations we work with community leaders to provide opportunities for young people, and that includes the opportunity to be part of a soccer team. Soccer teams provide youth communities with a great foundation of fun and fellowship that helps kids become the best they can be.”
The service experience is explained best by Sean himself, “Knowing that I am having a positive impact on the lives of other youth makes me feel great. This donation drive was different than other drives I have participated in before. It was personal to me and I felt like I was in the driver’s seat. Also this time, I will know exactly who the donations are going to (youth in Nicaragua) and will be able to actually see the impact of my project. I felt inspired to help because I love soccer and I don’t know what I would do without it. To provide other people with the opportunity to play means the world to me.”
Sean’s insightful remarks: “I was also inspired by the quote from Winston Churchill, ‘We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.’ I have learned that I can make a difference in the world. Thank you Peace Passers for giving me this opportunity to help serve!”
Check out more of Sean’s amazing photos on the Peace Passers Facebook page. And don’t forget to ‘like us’ and share with friends!