Middle School Boys Sing to Earn Sports Equipment for Homeless Kids

Submitted by: Kellee Reed

Armed with nothing more than a ridiculous musical Christmas hat and two mediocre singing voices, Jack Reed and Garrett Rivas, seventh graders at Charlotte Wood Middle School, set out to do something good.

Filled with the holiday spirit and the energy of 13-year-old boys, they hatched a plan to buy baseball equipment for homeless children. Being baseball fans themselves, the idea of providing the opportunity to play baseball to kids who don’t have much opportunity, was meaningful and exciting to them.

Depending strictly on the goodness of Danville residents, the boys took off door to door singing and dancing to raise funds for the Raphael House Shelter in San Francisco and the Boys and Girls Club of Richmond. Being neither musically nor vocally inclined, the show they put on was one of earnestness and enthusiasm.

“Jack would come home with a Tupperware full of smashed dollar bills and an exhausted but happy grin on his face. I didn’t pay much attention at first, but as they begged to go out day after day in the cold of December, I decided to weigh in on the adventure,” said Kellee Reed, Jack’s mother. “Several lovely families even wrote the boys 50 dollar checks. It was really quite amazing.”

Sitting down to count the bills, Jack and Garrett realized they had over 650 dollars to buy equipment.

“With the generosity of a 10 percent discount from Big 5, we got everything a baseball team could need,” said Garrett.

“The best part was getting to deliver the equipment to the homeless shelter and tour where these kids live,” said Jack. “At the Boys and Girls Club, we met foster kids who were so excited to see us. The staff there has invited us to help with their “pitch, hit and run” event. We will be much better at than singing!”