As a young child I loved playing soccer, and so when I would go to Greece to visit some of my Father’s family, I would always bring my cleats and my soccer ball with me. When I was ten I was finally allowed to go to the soccer field to play pick-up games with the other children around the neighborhood who enjoyed the game. I still remember the excitement I had running towards the soccer pitch to play with kids my age. I also remember looking down at their feet and seeing some play with gym shoes with holes, and the less fortunate kids playing barefoot without shoes. Elvis, the youngest on the pitch would often have scabs and blood on his feet from the turf, but this didn’t deter him from playing!! This vision stuck with me.

The next year I asked my parents if I could collect shoes for the young soccer players that I played with in Greece so they could be able to play with proper equipment. That year I brought 20 pairs of cleats to Greece, and all 20 were given to athletes who were in need of proper shoes. As I became older I came to realize that many children I had been playing with were not native to the country, some were refugees. I collected cleats yearly and the amount collected grew. The joy of seeing the eyes wide and smiles even wider when I would open the box to distribute!! Thru the years some children moved away while others anticipated my summer arrival and what it meant!! A few were even accepted as starting players on selective travel teams, and some received scholarships to play soccer while in University.

As for Elvis, I didn’t see him after the first year I gave him a pair of cleats. But he was the catalyst to this mission. Oh the joy of seeing the eyes wide and smiles even wider when I would open the box to distribute!!
This was more than just for the love of the game of soccer.

The unity and pure happiness of everyone playing, without a common language, but instead the commonality of love for the game was beyond spiritual.

Up to the onset of COVID, 680 cleats have been donated!!!