Elk Grove Couple Looks To Help Soccer Grow In The Philippines
ELK GROVE (CBS13) – A local competitive soccer club is donating gear to kids overseas, but shipping everything is getting costly.
A growing number of boxes are filling up Michael Peters' garage.
"It's anything soccer. I have nets here coaches bags, goalie gloves, pennys, backpacks, jerseys, shorts cleats, balls," Peters said.
All donated – some gently used and some brand new – and all packed up to send to the Philippines.
"When we would visit over there we would notice the sport of soccer catching on," Peters said.
Michael's wife is Filipino and their family is involved in IR Academy, a nonprofit competitive soccer club in Elk Grove.
"We would see that the kids were playing soccer with no shoes or sandals, flip flops," Peters said.
The Peters' wanted to change that.
"Some of the kids were using there notebook covers as shin guards," Peters said.
They reached out, got a lot of help and have filled a ton of boxes. Now they have a partnership with players in the Philippines.
"They became our sister club. Mentol FC over there, Mentol IR Academy FC now," Peters said.
The Peters have seen how these generous donations have made a difference.
"When we showed up over there kids were lined up smiles on their faces," Peters said.
But the process to get all of this where it needs to go is costly.
"It's like 50-60 bucks [each] to ship boxes over there," Peters said.
Hundreds of dollars they can't cover by themselves, so any help to cover the shipping will speed up the delivery. The Peters say the time and commitment is all worth it.
"It makes you feel good and they're really grateful," Peters said.
Other groups overseas are now reaching out to cleats for kids of the Philippines looking for donations.
If you're interested in helping, head to their Facebook page at http:// facebook.com/cleatsforkidsofthePI.