Schools

West Hill School Collecting Soccer Balls to Aid 'Kick For Nick'

Kick for Nick is an organization that was created by the parents of a fallen CT solider, Nick Madaras.

West Hill School kicked off their end of the year fundraising event. The student council and the principal agreed to collect soccer balls for the "Kick For Nick Foundation."

Kick for Nick is an organization that was created by the parents of a fallen CT solider, Nick Madaras. Nick was only 19 years when he was struck by a road side bomb in Iraq.

Nick was an avid soccer player back home. When he saw the kids in Iraqi neighborhoods playing without a proper ball or shoes, he was sad. Nick asked his parents to send him his old soccer balls to give to the children in Iraq near where he was stationed. Before the balls could be shipped to Nick, his family received the sad news. He had only been in Iraq for two months.

The family decided to turn their son's death into a positive cause. Kick for Nick Has received accolades from many army generals (letters are posted on website), local politicians, and media attention such as ESPN.

The organization collects soccer balls and equipment from local community fundraisers. These balls are then distributed to children in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan, etc. The balls are distributed by US soldiers directly. It is an amazing charity. Since 2007, the foundation has distributed over 39,000 soccer balls and this project has been adopted by communities in 46 US states. You can check out their website: www.kickfornick.org for a lot of good background information.

Rocky Hill is the first elementary school to take on this project. In the past it has always been high schools or universities. 

Monday morning, West Hill, officially kicked off their ball drive. Shalini Madaras, the mother of Nick Madaras was the guest speaker. She addressed the entire school and the kids were overwhelmed with her story. One student came up to Mrs. Madaras after the assembly with tears in her eyes because she was so moved by her speech.

The school will collect balls until June 7th and their goal is to collect 500 soccer balls. 

Mrs. Madaras will be at the school on June 7th to speak to the children again.

Anyone interested in donating soccer balls can drop them off at the school. 


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