Often soccer equipment isn’t in great supply in many parts of the world.
But through the hard work of Mountlake Terrace senior Kelsie Raunio, players in Haiti and Burkina Faso in western Africa will be able to play the sport they love with uniforms and other soccer-related gear.
As part of her senior project, Raunio collected more than 400 uniforms, 200 soccer balls, 50 pairs of cleats and numerous shorts, shin guards and soccer socks.
“My soccer team gets new uniforms every two years,” said Raunio, who plays for the Evergreen Soccer Club. “I thought it was a great way to recycle the uniforms and give them to people who would need it. … They don’t have the same opportunities that we do.”
Raunio sent out e-mails to the Mountlake Terrace parent group and also put information in her church’s bulletin in January. The donations started rolling in from North Creek Presbyterian Church members and the Mountlake Terrace/Brier community.
Where did she keep all the equipment?
“It was actually in my living room and garage,” said Raunio, who also played soccer at Mountlake Terrace. “I got a lot of stuff at the beginning, but through the weeks, I also got a lot. It was continuous.”
Eight boxes of uniforms and equipment were sent to World Concern workers in each country. World Concern is a non-profit Christian humanitarian organization that provides programs to the world’s poor in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
The equipment enabled World Concern to put on soccer tournaments between local villages. The shipments were sent out at the end of April and were received by World Concern in mid-May.
Raunio’s parents picked up the $700 shipping costs to Burkina Faso and the Lynnwood Kiwanis donated $300 to cover the shipping costs to Haiti.
“I definitely learned how to work with different types of people,” Raunio said of the project.
Raunio will be continuing her soccer career at the University of Redlands in California.
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