Sault women raise money to send soccer jerseys to kids in Africa

A pair of soccer moms in Sault Ste. Marie have rallied the community around a good cause.

A jersey drive for kids in Africa greatly surpassed expectations, and now the pair have a new hurdle.

What started as spring cleaning eventually became a jersey drive and has resulted in a lot of soccer equipment going to a good cause.

”I think about 500 total,” said organizer Melissa Jakimik.

“It's probably about 250 jerseys and then a lot of shorts and then maybe 50 socks -- like soccer socks -- and a few balls and about 10 bags, as well.”

Jakimik and Amelie Morissette put out a call a few months ago to the local soccer community asking for extra jerseys to be donated to a charity.

After some research, they deemed Slum2School Africa as a reputable organization, with a strong record of helping underserved children.

Melissa Jakimik and Amelie Morissette put out a call a few months ago to the local soccer community asking for extra jerseys to be donated to a charity. (Cory Nordstrom/CTV News)

“Just to be able to dress up like they're like idol or like, you know, anyone on TV that play soccer and like to be part, as you say, as a team and just have this team spirit that goes with that,” Morissette said.

“I think that's, yeah, that's part of it that for sure for them.”

The organizers said are proud of the community support the initiative has received and the lesson it teaches youth.

“To demonstrate to the kids that actually you can make a difference in your family and your community, but it can extend also when you're like with the community itself, when you're working as a team, you can, like, do much greater things,” Morissette said.

Hefty shipping fee

Surpassing the expected number of donations was a good thing, but it left them with a hefty price tag to ship the gear to Africa.

“We thought we could just cover the shipping ourselves,” Jakimik said.

“It might be a couple hundred dollars, a few hundred dollars, and that would be our part to it. But because of how much we got, we're looking at about $2,000 for shipping.”

A social media fundraising campaign has raised nearly a thousand dollars so far, but they hope to ship the items to Africa within the next month.

The pair say they are still receiving messages from people in the Sault looking to donate soccer jerseys and equipment, so it might be an effort they repeat in years to come.

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