Kids helping kids.
It’s something that makes this world a better place.
A whole bunch of south suburban girls soccer players plan to do their part later this month.
Lincoln-Way Central, East and West, Tinley Park, Sandburg and Andrew all will have representatives on what is being called a “Lovin’ On Kids” mission to Comayagua, Honduras from June 27 to July 2.
One of the leaders of the group is Matt Young, the director and coach of the Ignite Soccer Club.
Last year, a group of 15 players, coaches and parents traveled to Belize. They met and shared soccer skills with the local children. While they were there, they also undertook and financed a project to rebuild a roof and install a stove ventilation system in the home of an elderly woman in need.
This year, the group has doubled in size.
“The day we arrive we are going to some foster homes for kids,” Young said. “We’ll also go to homes that provide places of safety and sanctuary for struggling youth who have been in some pretty bad situations due to the poverty rate and the crime rate.
“The girls will be sharing music. We’re bringing over a ton of games and craft projects. This one will be a little less labor and a lot more emotional.”
I love doing stories about these missions mostly because I enjoy talking with kids who have been there before. Believe me, the emotion goes both ways between the caregivers and care receivers.
Tinley Park’s Megan Majewski, a junior defender, said she was hoping not to get emotional when I asked her to tell me about one of her experiences in Belize in 2016.
“Every time I talk about this I cry,” Majewski said. “There is this little girl I got really close with. We were just sitting and talking and she was like, ‘Do you have apples in America?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ Then she said, ‘I have never eaten an apple before.’
“It really hit me that I take so many things for granted, and she had never even had an apple. It was so emotional seeing how different things were. They didn’t have cars and had to walk everywhere. And a soccer ball to them seemed like a thousand dollars.”
Lincoln-Way East’s Maria Fields, a junior goalkeeper, is a veteran of mission trips. She and her father, Eric, have been to Haiti and the border of Texas and Mexico. She has also taken part in several local projects.
“For me, God has given so much and blessed me and my family, it really means a lot to me to help others,” she said.
Fields had her own emotional connection on last year’s trip to Belize.
“There was this one girl, Rosalinda, she was very shy the whole time but she liked me,” Fields said. “I remember my dad was going around with his camera trying to get pictures of us and she kept hiding.
“I told her, ‘Rosalinda, you know you are so beautiful and God made you perfect and he loves you so much.’ I told her how much people cared for her. After that she was so changed and smiling the whole time.”
Fields said she was changed, too.
“I got really emotional,” she said “Doing this is impactful for them, but it also impacts you. One of the things I’m excited about for this trip is that we have people going who didn’t last year.”
Lincoln-Way Central graduate Alyte Katilius will be making her first trip.
Katilius is a volunteer with Feed My Starving Children, a Christian organization that provides food and nourishment products for impoverished third-world countries.
“I think it’ll be a great experience for me,” Katilius said of the upcoming mission to Honduras. “Service has always been a huge part of the soccer club as well as my church and my school. It has always been something I’ve been interested in.
“I’m excited to help other people.”
Twitter @tbaranek
