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South Coast Teens Create Nonprofit To Help Kids Without Sports Gear

"One For The Team" collection used sports gear on the South Coast for kids in need

A group of South Coast teenagers have taken on the ambitious job of helping some kids in need.

They formed a non-profit group, and for the last two years have gathered used sports equipment for schools and groups that can’t afford them.  The group is the creation of Santa Barbara teens Dillon Miller, Oliver Pelly and Sophia Ciani.

Their targets are leftover soccer equipment, including used baseball bats, gloves, balls and other sports gear, which finds new life thanks to the Santa Barbara teens.

It’s nice to help other teens who might not be able to play sports without the donated gear, they say. The gear has been going to L.A. Shares, a nonprofit group which directs donated items like sports gear to schools and community groups that can put them to good use. Ivan Pelly,  father of “One For The Team” co-founder Oliver Pelly, serves as its advisor and says the teens have collected several truckloads of sports equipment thus far.

Now “One For The Team” is trying to extend its reach overseas. They're gathering more sports gear and are trying to raise money to ship the equipment to the Casa Victoria orphanage in Ecuador.

The teens have launched an online campaign to raise $5000 to get the sports gear to Ecuador, and have already raised about a thousand dollars in the drive’s first four days.

Ivan Pelly says he’s proud of what they’ve done on their own. The teens are hoping that young people in other communities will jump into their campaign to give the old sports gear new life, and give other kids the chance to participate in sports

You can find the  "One For The Team" fundraising campaign here.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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