In July 2010 I was contacted by Lori McCaffrey from the Kickers Soccer Club in Aurora, IL. Lori recognized that the club had extra soccer balls, pinnies, whistles, and duffle bags donated from Dicks Sporting Goods. She took initiative to get the extra items boxed up and shipped out to Charlotte, NC. In the same fashion I was also contacted by Ronell Uran from Sartell High School (Sartell, MN) who sent an email explaining, “I am a coach at Sartell High School and have two sets of jerseys that I would like to donate. I have 40 white jerseys and 34 blue jerseys from the company High 5. They were used for my junior high teams.” Overall Coach Ronell boxed up and shipped 98 jerseys to Peace Passers.

Once received in Charlotte the circle of giving continued on with a connection to the Charlotte Eagles Soccer club. In our 4th donation to the Charlotte Eagles we were able to connect these items to their August 2010 mission trip to Kenya. Mitch Sanford (International Tour Director Charlotte Eagles) explained the “camps were held at a high school (almost all secondary schools in Kenya are boarding schools) in Mpeketoni, Kenya where we could house and feed all the boys. They also had two soccer fields on campus. There were about 80 boys from 5 different villages in the coastal region of Kenya. Most of these boys live in mud huts with thatch roofs and dirt floors. The Eagles and New Life Homes (the ministry we partner with over there) have been training coaches the past few years.”
Thanks to Lori, the Kickers Soccer Club, Coach Ronell, and the partnership with Mitch and the Charlotte Eagles for participating in the Peace Passers circle of giving back to the game.

Check out more photos of this story on our facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/peacepassers

Building on collaborations with Habitat for Humanity-El Salvador (HFH-ES), Myers Park Presbyterian Church (Charlotte, NC) and the Peace Passers we have collaborated to send 34 soccer balls, 103 pairs of youth size soccer boots, 71 soccer jerseys, 26 Nike t-shirts, as well as field cones & sport duffle bags to Getsemaní, El Salvador. The mission team will be leaving from Charlotte, NC on Feb 12th and will be working in partnership with the community of Getsemaní, EL Salvador. We are happy to have the opportunity to support sports development in Getsemaní and surrounding areas. Many thanks to Anna Carter for connecting to Peace Passers and spreading the good word about our global outreach work; and of course thanks to Donnie Daugherty (pictured below) for taking lead on picking up the equipment from us in Charlotte to prepare it for packing.

We’d also like to mention the bulk of youth soccer shoes heading to El Salvador came from a donation received by high school student Madison Bush (Richmond, VA) who collected 115 pairs of soccer boots from her local community. We are proud of her hard work and know the shoes will bring many smiles & kicks to the youth in El Salvador.

By Kelvin Marshall – Del Sur News – San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

08.20.2009 – The Peace Passers Mission Statement is simple: “Through a collaborative, team approach; we support the mission to collect and distribute basic soccer supplies to people throughout the world”.

However, getting that done, (and they do) is not as easy as it looks. The collaboration required to make this work was achieve by solid networking and picking the right partners that can get the job done. This really is a chain with no weak links. The reputation of Peace Passers gives them the credibility needed to solicit soccer clothing and supplies which are then sent down to Jane Mirandette at the Biblioteca Móvil in SJdS. Once here, the Fundación A. Jean Brugger and Comunidad Connect help make sure the supplies are distributed appropriately – another important link in the chain that ensures the credibility of the program.

Jon Thompson (from Comunidad Connect and the Fundación A. Jean Brugger) summed it up best “There are so many folks who want to donate to us, to make a difference here in Nicaragua, yet transportation remains the number one obstacle. Little by little, Jane and American Airlines are doing their part to make the connections between international resources and local needs happen.”

Pictured above are Jane Mirandette (Biblioteca Móvil) and Jon Thompson (Comunidad Connect and the Fundación A. Jean Brugger) with a huge donation of 8 containers of football (soccer) clothing, shoes, balls and more which was collected by Peace Passers from the Denver (USA) area. Even this type of promotion adds value to the program as copies of articles and photographs can be sent to the donating groups to show that these generous donations got here.