Soccers Sisters Say Youngsters Can Make a Difference, Too

About this sponsorship: In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains.

Facing the Challenge

Sisters Cassandra and Christiana Layman had an idea. Avid soccer players, they would watch as their old uniforms piled up season after season, year after year as they get new gear. So they decided to begin donating the uniforms to children in need in an initiative called SoccerRECYCLE.

Now they want the project to spread.

"The goal that we are trying to achieve right now is to get others within our community and beyond to see opportunities to give back," says Christiana Layman. "We started this program as two young soccer players, seeing how our uniforms and gear piled up as we outgrew them.

"We were taught to never take things for granted and to always look out for others when we can," she adds.

The sisters are now on a mission to let people to know no matter how old you are or how little you are able to give, something is better than nothing.

Finding the Inspiration 

"We knew that there were other children that did not have simple things that we took for granted; things like shirts, shorts, cleats, socks, etc," Cassandra says. "We hoped that by starting a program, we would be able to give back to those in need." 

The sisters say they were inspired to take on this challenge as they spoke to other soccer players who agreed that old uniforms for uselessly piling up. Soon after, the disastrous earthquake of 2010 struck Haiti.

"We knew we had to take action," the sisters agreed.

Then SoccerRECYCLE was born and two had their first successful uniform drive.

Reaching the Goal 

The sisters efforts' were recognized this past February as they were named Soccer Rhode Island's Top Youth Volunteers for 2012-2013 for their charitable work at Rhode Island's Annual Awards banquet.

"Being that there are so many young children in our community, we hope that we can be an inspiration to them, that they might see at a young age [they have the] ability to make a change," Christiana says.

Read more: Soccer Sisters Hold Clothing Drive to Benefit Haitians in NeedSoccer Sisters Land Huge Donation from Job Lot