My community service project is assisting the Detroit Police Athletic League (Detroit PAL) with getting cleats for their players. Detroit PAL is a non-profit organization positively impacting the lives of nearly 10,000 children each year through athletic, and leadership development programs. and has roots dating back to 1970. Detroit PAL empowers the community by training volunteer coaches and by
creating safe places for kids to play. I know it might seem strange that a New York City born and raised boy would even think about Detroit – or anything outside a 30 mile radius, for that matter – but for those of you who don’t know, there is a back story. When I was young I liked the Yankees – my friends all liked the Yankees and I honestly had no true devotion to the Yankees. My Dad is from New Zealand so he didn’t have a Major League Baseball team to follow. Then, my Mom & Dad split up my Mom met Jerry and all of a sudden I started hearing about this team: The Detroit Tigers. Jerry’s Dad, Ernie, grew up in Harlem in the time of Hank Greenberg – who was from Harlem. Hank Greenberg played for The Detroit Tigers & according to Ernie “all Jewish Boys in Harlem followed Hank Greenberg and The Detroit Tigers!” Ernie passed his love of the Tigers down to Jerry, and Jerry passed his love of the Tigers to me! Now we are one of the few families at a Yankees Tigers Game in Yankee Stadium rooting for the Tigers (ask me to tell you some of the stories... including the man who put paper in his ears so he wouldn’t hear me yelling “Go Tigers!”)
For the past three years Ernie has taken all of us to Detroit for a weekend of watching baseball. I have gotten to see quite a bit of Detroit, and have talked to my parents about how badly the city has been hit by the economic crisis. SO – when I thought of what to do for my Mitzvah project, and I thought about what was important to me – well, this was the obvious result! I love baseball, I love the Tigers, and I love Detroit! If there is anything I can do to help kids who love baseball in that city – why not try to do it? I have contacted Detroit PAL (http://www.detroitpal.org) and they told me that what they need most for their teams are cleats – and that they can use any size. I have set up a registry at Amazon.com, (http://amzn.com/w/1WQXE6QZHQDA2 ) with all different prices and sizes. You can buy items on the web site – send gift cards for whatever amount you want, or if you would prefer you could go on the Detroit Pal website and click on the “Donate Now” tab and donate directly to them (indicate in the comments box this is for my Mitzvah Project). Anything you can do would be great! If you have any questions you can email me at [email protected].
