Catholic News Around Indiana

Diocese of Lafayette

Soccer gifts are a big hit with Haitian children

By Lisa Wilson-Cotillier (The Catholic Moment)

CARMEL—After soccer season ends, many parents wonder what to do with the used soccer jerseys and soccer balls.

Haiti Ministry volunteers at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish decided to collect them for soccer-crazy Haitian children who are too poor to afford new equipment. Dozens of donated balls and shirts were collected in December and will be delivered in February.

The venture began humbly, said Haiti Ministry chair and project organizer Laura Moehling.

“Last December [2006], I led a group of nine to Haiti and a volunteer took a small bag of jerseys down to give to children waiting for medical care,” she said. “They were just ecstatic to have them, and very thankful. It was really something that touched all of our hearts.”

The project began with a simple question: What do we have to give?

Volunteer Kathy Lazzara posed that question to her three sons—all soccer players—before she left on the mission trip. Their old jerseys came to mind.

“It was a way to allow my boys to participate in the mission, even though they wouldn’t be with me,” she said. “It turned out to be a very special thing.”

Later, collection sites were set up for more soccer donations.

“The response that I have received from friends, family and the Church has been wonderful,” Lazzara said. “Everyone has been so willing to be able to give this equipment that they have just laying around, and they are happy to know that it’s going to other children who will cherish it.”

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Karen Jung is moving there in February, and will take the donated equipment with her.

“Things we take for granted here—all of the activities and teams that we have as well as the fact that we have access to clean water and that we have lodging—you gain a greater appreciation for after visiting there,” she said. “Soccer jerseys are a great example.”

The children are happy to receive even the smallest gifts, Jung said, adding that, “They are just so appreciative of anything that we can give them, whether it’s something material or just spending time with them kicking around a soccer ball, and they’re so open with people, so willing to share their culture and invite you into their world.

“The gift of a soccer ball or a jersey is something so simple, but it’s something the children always remember,” Jung said.

More than 50 soccer balls and at least 12 bags of soccer jerseys have been donated by individuals, groups and athletic teams, including The Carmel Dads Club and St. Theodore Guérin High School in Noblesville.

“The support for this has been overwhelming,” Moehling said. “Soccer is big down there, and we’ve seen kids get old plastic bags and tie them up to make a ball to play. It’s just a way of connecting with the people down there. We try very hard to connect with them on a more personal level, and this offers an opportunity for us to have a greater connection with them.”

“It’s human nature that you want to have fun,” Jung said. “You want to play, you want to laugh, and you want to make friendships. Whether you can speak in words is irrelevant, when you find a common activity—in this case it’s soccer—you have a friend for life.

“I think it’s an outstanding way for us to build a connection … through soccer, a bond was built that could not have been built otherwise.” †