By Anna Skinner
Heather Bola, Westfield, had some gently used sports equipment her kids wouldn’t be using anymore. She approached Rebecca Ogle, a board member with Westfield Youth Sports, Inc., and asked if she could use it. Ogle and Bola realized that there was probably more than just her two-bag donation.
WYSI Board Member Aaron Sherrick decided to take it a step further and organize an event with the board.
“Since I’m the new fundraising director, why don’t we just do something where I can collect more equipment?” he said. “We basically are doing this equipment exchange in support of our scholarship program. The scholarship program is basically to help kids in the community that can’t necessarily afford to play sports.”
Although the scholarship program pays for registration fees, there are still various fees associated with sports equipment. The equipment drive will be held 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 25 at Huston Electric, Inc., 1105 E. 181st St. Bola, who works for Corky Huston, managing director of business development, contacted him in regards of storage. Huston agreed to store the equipment in warehouse space and use the parking lot for the collection drive. Huston, of Zionsville, agreed.
“As far as Huston, we always like to give back to the communities in the areas we are in,” he said.
WYSI plans on hosting more equipment drives, such as in the summer and fall, to correspond with different sport seasons.
For more, visit wysi.net.