In hopes of making sure that financial barriers don’t limit Sault Ste. Marie’s youth from being able to participate in sports locally, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Sault Ste. Marie held a Pick Up and Play event on Saturday at Algoma University’s George Leach Centre.
The event allowed families to choose from a wide array of gently-used sports equipment to take home, free of charge.
“The motivation came about in a discussion between community partners regarding financial barriers for kids getting active and participating in organized sports in the Soo,” said Big Brothers, Big Sisters Executive Director Rebecca Bolton. “The agencies collectively got together, collected gently-used sports equipment from community members.”
Bolton went on to say the event was a way to give back for an agency that is generally in the collection mode.
For Bolton, the event is a way to allow the agencies involved to work together to “share resources and ensure that we’re not duplicating services.”
In addition to Saturday’s event, Bolton said the hope is to have more Pick Up and Play events in the future and spread them to different pars of the city to make them easily accessible, adding that the possibility of having sports-specific events could be considered as the seasons change.
“The response has been great,” Bolton said.
She added that those that weren’t able to attend Saturday’s event at the George Leach Centre can contact the agency if they’re looking for particular equipment.
The Pick Up and Play partner agencies in attendance on Saturday included:
- Big Brothers, Big Sisters
- Sault Ste. Marie Social Services
- #activeSault (City of Sault Ste. Marie)
- Algoma University Athletics
- Healthy Kids Community Challenge
- Sault Ste. Marie Police Services
- Sault Ste. Marie Fire Department
In addition to the event, Bolton said that Big Brothers, Big Sisters can also help out if people are interested in donating money that can help go towards registration fees for children to join one of the local organized sports leagues.