By AUBRIE GEORGE | The Marlton Telegram
One man’s used cleats are another’s treasure.
That is the message that Bryan O’Donnell and his father, Walt, have spread through Cleats 4 Kids — a growing organization that collects and distributes used cleats and sports equipment to associations, clubs and players who don’t have the money to buy them.
Cleats 4 Kids began in 2006, when Bryan was a junior at Cherokee High School and was looking for a way to give back to the community.
“Bryan was looking to get into some volunteering and I guess sports was natural, and football was even more natural, because he kind of grew up on the football field,” Walt said.
Bryan had been playing sports for more than 15 years and his father had been coaching in Philadelphia for even longer. Walt would often bring Bryan along to watch practices and games.
Through years of being heavily involved in athletics, the two noticed that a lot of used football cleats had begun to accumulate around their house.
“Me and my dad, we’ve always collected a lot of cleats,” Bryan said. “We wanted to find something to do with them.”
Donations are accepted year-round. For information on donating or volunteering for Cleats 4 Kids, or to find out how to start your own collection drive, visit their new Web site at sites.google.com/site/cleats4kidsorg. Interested residents can also contact Bryan or Walt O’Donnell at 596–6706 or e-mail them at dwodon@comcast.net.
See this week’s print edition of The Telegram for the full story.
