, Messenger News
Gear For Kids, a recent athletic gear drive held by the Fort Dodge Community Foundation and United Way, was a tremendous success, according to Mary Jo Wagner, foundation development director.
Through the drive - held May 3 and 4 - 23 families and 57 individuals are being helped, Wagner said.
"It was about 300 items total. We got a lot of balls and bats, which I thought was pretty exciting," she said. "I was pleased."
The drive collected new and used athletic gear for needy children for all sports and many activities, including 18 baseball bats, 32 balls and 31 gloves, six footballs, 15 basketballs, 23 soccer balls and 17 shin guards, 22 softballs, nine tennis rackets, two volleyballs, four pairs of ice hockey skates, and a pair of rollerblades, among other items.
So many shoes were donated, Wagner said, that, lined up, they spanned the length of the old Fareway building, the drive donation site.
"I had a lot of people say, 'I just cleaned out my closet and I'll keep this in mind for next year,'" she said. "Kids, as they grow, they keep going through this stuff quite rapidly, so parents accumulate a lot of sporting gear equipment in a short period of time."
Parents weren't the only ones contributing, Wagner said.
"We had grandmothers - their grandkids had grown out of the stuff they had, like play stuff. We got four complete youth golf sets. We didn't even anticipate those," she said.
The athletic gear is distributed among specific needy families through the foundation's partner, the Webster County Family Development Council.
"They have to qualify for Upper Des Moines services, so they would be considered low-income and they would qualify for this," Alisa Schlief, council president, said. "We're not going to just give them away to anybody. They've got to be families that they're serving or are being served by one of the human service agencies in Fort Dodge."
The need was great, Wagner said.
"We had a team, one whole team, that there were quite a few kids on it that needed help, and so that's what we're looking for," she said. "Alisa knew of 10 kids for soccer that needed help. They couldn't afford the gear and stuff."
The council also independently provides summer scholarships for athletic activities, helping 40 families and 123 individuals so far, Schlief said.
Cash donations were also received during the drive to purchase pool passes for needy children, Wagner said. The council had set aside $1,000 for passes, which was bolstered by an additional $5,000 from the Community Foundation, through its YouthNet program.
"We had a lot of generous companies that helped with YouthNet," she said. "It's kind of neat because people, even that don't maybe have that can say, here's a couple of pool passes. If everybody does that, a lot of kids get to go to the pool."
According to Wagner, the Community Foundation board has recommended holding the drive annually.
"Once people know that, they're going to start keeping their stuff and bringing it. It's a way, every summer, to get these kids out of the house and doing something," she said. "That's something we want to keep doing and building each year. We want to be able to connect families and get them the help they need."
Wagner said she remains as astonished by the community's continued generosity.
"I am amazed," she said. "Fort Dodge (is a ) really a good community."
Plans are already being made for future drives and efforts that will benefit the needy children of Fort Dodge, Wagner said.
Contact Brandon L. Summers at (515) 573-2141
or bsummers@messengernews.net
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