Throughout the month of October, HLF Young Ambassador Addison Dugan, a ninth grader at Lynbrook High School, hosted a sports equipment drive with the help of Game Changers New York. This project was designed to help provide used sports equipment to children in need. He originally planned on just donating hockey equipment, but with all the donations received, Addison was able to help others in need. The tennis rackets collected were donated to Kids Serving Kids, and the baseball equipment collected was donated to Game Time Foundation, along with the hockey equipment being donated to the Long Island Blues. This event reflected Addison’s dedication to using his love for sports to create a positive community impact, in line with the HLF’s mission to provide education and health to children and making a difference.
The event took place at Addison’s house, where people could drop off any used sports equipment they wanted to donate throughout October. Addison was able to work with Game Changers New York, a nonprofit organization that helped Addison in sending out the equipment and sharing information about HLF. With their help, all the sports equipment collected was shipped to other organizations. The hockey equipment collected was donated to the Long Island Blues. The Long Island Blues is a nonprofit ice hockey organization for children and young adults with developmental disabilities. The program is open to anyone who is ineligible to participate in an existing hockey program. The tennis rackets collected were donated to an organization called Kids Serving Kids. This organization collects used tennis rackets and gives them to underserved athletes around the world to play tennis. Finally, the baseball equipment collected was donated to Game Time Foundation, which collects used baseball equipment and then sends it to Colombia for kids to use. From the equipment Addison collected, he was able to help 2-5 baseball teams in hard-to-reach areas of Colombia that serve children in need. Throughout the month, Addison was able to help share the gift of sports to many children and bring their communities together.
At the end of the event, Addison donated over 100 pieces of sports equipment to children in need. At first, Addison was not sure how successful the project would be, but he was blown away by all the donations received. This experience made Addison feel proud of himself for helping so many kids do what he loves most — play sports. The project not only developed Addison’s communication and leadership skills but also helped him better understand HLF’s mission of providing education and health to children in need and making a positive impact. To Addison, being successful means that you leave the world a better place than you found it. This project reflects that perfectly. Addison expressed much gratitude to all who helped in making this project possible and looks forward to continuing to make a difference through HLF.
Written by HLFYA Addison Dugan
