Late in November of 2006, Mike Miselis, vice president of the Cal Ripken youth baseball league, was driving near 11th Street when he saw kids playing baseball in one of the local fields.
“They were using make-believe bases and they had only one ball that was pretty tattered,” he said. “I coach. So I’m always carrying things in my car. So I pulled over.”
He called the kids over to the fence and then threw several baseballs and bases to them.
“These were things that we would have thrown out anyway, but the kids acted as if they had hit the lottery and kept thanking me,” Miselis said. “It was a great feeling for something just so basic. And with it being so close to the holiday, I thought maybe we could do something more. So I sent out an e-mail to all the parents and people in the league asking for donations. I thought we could get some money together and help out some kids by letting them shop for things at our sponsor, Foot Locker.”
“Over the next few hours and days, I got e-mails back,” he continued. “Within a couple of weeks, people had donated several thousands of dollars. I contacted Foot Locker to tell them what we intended to do, and they kicked in $1,000, too.”
This was unexpected since Foot Locker gives the league a lot of money each year to help with operations. Combined, the donations totaled up to about $4,800.
“I contacted every public school,” he said. “I figured they would know which kids might benefit most.”
He wanted to give each kid $150 and have them shop for what they wanted at Foot Locker.
“I figured we could take names off the top of the list until we ran out of money,” he said.
The money paid for 32 kids to have a shopping spree at Foot Locker, and after it was over, Miselis decided this might become an annual holiday tradition.
Annual tradition
So this year, Cal Ripken and Foot Locker kicked off the newly named “Make a Kid Smile for Christmas Campaign” early, hoping to raise even more money than last year.
“We started a little earlier this year by sending out e-mails to all the parents, and they went even more nuts than last year,” he said. “One person, who asked not to be named, donated New York Giants tickets we could raffle off. Another business said the kids could come to his restaurant for a free lunch on the day we do the shopping.”
Between word of mouth and e-mails, Cal Ripken raised $4,100 – including a $1,200 donation from Foot Locker – within the first three weeks from more than 83 people. By mid-December, that figure was about $5,200, which will pay for the shopping sprees of about 40 kids on Dec. 23.
Perpetual Baseball, a training facility for kids located across from City Hall in old St. Henry’s School, is also donating to the fundraiser the $100 signup fee until Dec. 23.
“We’ve even received denotations from people in Jersey City and The Bronx,” Miselis said.
Miselis can be contacted via email at MMiselis@aol.com or by calling (201) 436-8787.