Change Up Sports

Bound for Sierra Leone!🇸🇱✈️

After eight weeks together, it is always bittersweet to wrap up the spring series of the More Than Sports program with Community Of Compassion CDC Fortunately, the weather cooperated and we were able to head outside for some softball which is a favorite activity! The 34 young people had a blast hitting, fielding, and just having fun out on the field. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed lots of tasty treats and got backpacks, school supplies, t-shirts, and trophies to celebrate and prepare them for the start of the next school year! Thank you so much as always to the terrific Community of Compassion staff for their ongoing partnership and to our team of volunteers including Mike Butera, Taylor Taranto, Heena Desai, and Adam Herpolsheimer who made the final session–and the past eight weeks–so wonderful. And, extra special thanks to PHLY Foundation for making the program possible–we cannot thank them enough! Finally, thanks to all of the amazing young people who took part in the program this session; can’t wait to see you again in the fall!

One of the most meaningful parts of the Softball for Success program is the closing ceremony. The girls not only have the opportunity to reflect and share about the program, but it’s also where participants are presented with a 100-pound bag of rice to take home to their families. Most of the girls and their families face significant food insecurity and rely on this rice, which helps provide meals for more than a month, to meet their nutritional needs. The girls are always so happy to be able to help contribute to their households in such a critical way with the rice–which is Sierra Leone’s staple food–and we are so grateful to all of the donors who make this much-needed part of the program possible. Earlier this year, we were especially grateful to P*e Cee and Sons for generously donating thirty 50-pound bags of rice for the girls and their families and allowing us to purchase the remaining 100-pound bags of rice at a discount! What an incredible donation! Thank you P*e Cee and Sons!

We can’t believe we leave for our Third Annual Softball for Success Summer Camp in Sierra Leone for 47 teenage girls in exactly one week! While we are preparing to head to Freetown with our team of volunteers, we wanted to share some of our favorite activities that happened off of the field from our Softball for Success winter session earlier this year! We always kick off Softball for Success with a supply distribution where the girls get to go “shopping” for a wide range of items that they need both for softball and for life! Because of your generous donations, the girls received new backpacks, school supplies, personal care products, athletic clothing, and so much more, making for such a great start! All of your contributions make such a difference for the girls in the program and we are so grateful for your support!