Local Schools and Community Organizations Share Sports Enthusiasm
The National Football League and the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee are honoring kids with special events surrounding this year’s Super Bowl.
Last week at a Super Kids-Super Sharing event in Harlem, County Executive Rob Astorino was present to thank the Westchester schools and the Somers-based nonprofit Let’s Play It Forward for their donations of sports equipment, school supplies and books for kids in need.
Super Kids-Super Sharing has been implemented in Super Bowl host communities for the past 14 years and has made hundreds of thousands of books and pieces of sports equipment available to kids in need. The program also promotes NFL PLAY 60, the league’s youth health and wellness campaign, by sharing sports equipment among children in the community.
This year, the NFL added a new feature with Verizon’s “HopeLine” program to collect used cell phones, which will be donated to domestic violence prevention organizations and local shelters. Verizon also used the opportunity to present a donation of $10,000 to Safe Horizon.
“The great response we received from our local schools and residents [for this project] goes to show how dedicated Westchester residents are to giving back,” Astorino said in a statement. “It’s wonderful to see so many people come together for a worthy cause, and I’m proud that Westchester County was part of making this event such a huge success.”
In all, Westchester students and residents donated 6,676 items. As a thank you for participating, Westchester schools will receive several free, one-day passes to Playland.
Represented at the event last week were Ossining High School, Pocantico Hills School, Tuckahoe High School, Briarcliff High School, Lincoln-Titus Elementary School, Greenburgh Prep, Woodlands High School, and R.J. Baily School.
A group of students from Somers started Let’s Play It Forward in 2012, wanting to put the extra sports equipment in their garages to good use for kids in need. Since then, the response has been overwhelming.
“All our members believe that every child has the right to play a sport and stay active,” said John Lombardi, co-founder of Let’s Play It Forward. “We know that this organization will help give children in need the gear to make playing the sports they love possible. We want these kids to have as great of an experience participating in sports as we have had and make a positive impact in their lives.”
In addition to delivering and sorting through the donations, participants had the opportunity to enjoy the “Huddle Shuttle,” an interactive football display that gives them a chance to test their own football skills. Students also got to meet NFL players Kevin Boothe of the New York Giants, and Jaiquawn Jarrett of the New York Jets, as well as Flight Crew Cheerleaders.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
