CHRIS KELLY staff Melissa Dominach and Bailey Taft begin the job of sorting the large amount of new and used sports equipment collected through the program they founded, Equipment for Kids. FAIR HAVEN – Many more children will be running and playing on the sports fields in Red Bank this season thanks to the success of a program that provides them with sports equipment.
Equipment for Kids was founded by Fair Haven classmates Melissa Dominach and Bailey Taft, both 12, to give more youngsters access to the Red Bank Recreation sports programs. It has become a huge success.
“It was a big undertaking,” said Bob Evans, Red Bank Recreation director. “They’ve gotten over 1,000 pieces, some brand-new.”
The equipment was picked up on Saturday from the Church of the Nativity in Fair Haven and delivered to Red Bank Recreation’s storage area at Count Basie Park.
“You wouldn’t believe how much stuff we have,” Evans said. “They’ve done a tremendous job and we really appreciate it.”
For founders Melissa and Bailey, their drive was about “kids helping kids” and is one they would like to continue.
“We decided that we wanted to help the children that want to play sports but don’t have their own equipment,” the girls state on the group’s Web site, www.equipmentforkids.org.
What began as a social concerns project at Church of the Nativity in Fair Haven, where they worship, has become a larger vocation.
They have collected 1,138 pieces of sports equipment and have garnered recognition from local officials for their efforts.
The two Knollwood School seventhgraders collected sports equipment throughout the month of January and were recognized by state Sen. Jennifer Beck in Trenton on March 3 for their work.
Working in conjunction with Evans, Melissa and Bailey accumulated a growing pile of new and gently used cleats, shin guards, soccer balls, tennis rackets, basketballs, ice skates, field hockey sticks, and much more, to be delivered to local children in need.
Evans said that he and others at Red Bank Recreation would start going through the equipment some time this week. Youngsters will be able to use the equipment during the spring and summer recreation sports programs.
“Our teams can use it for practice and even for camps this summer. There are a lot of things they can go through and use. It’s worked out great,” said Evans.
Melissa and Bailey started Equipment for Kids upon hearing about local children who wanted to play sports but didn’t have any sports equipment of their own.
They became active collectors of donated sports equipment, establishing Equipment for Kids with a logo, a Web site, e-mail, and thousands of fliers. Melissa and Bailey received generous support from sports suppliers such as Athlete’s Alley of Eatontown and Modell’s in Holmdel, as well as many others.