Franklin Matters: "this is a great opportunity to collect clothes for those who need it"

Thursday, January 23, 2020

"this is a great opportunity to collect clothes for those who need it"

Josh Perry, Managing Editor of HockomockSports.com, provides the story on the Hockomock indoor tracks teams drive to support a good cause:

This winter, Hockomock League teams are not only competing on the track at the Reggie Lewis Center, but are also in a friendly competition off it. Teams are racing to collect new and gently used clothing that will be donated to the non-profit organization Cradles to Crayons to help families in need throughout the Boston and Metrowest areas.

The brainchild of Sharon athletes and MIAA student ambassadors Berta Faktorovich and Jacob Durbin, this is not an ordinary call for donations. The teams have been organized into a competition to see which program can collect the most. Certain items of clothing are worth more points than others, for example sweatshirts, coats, ski pants, and jackets are worth three points and t-shirts, socks, gloves, and hats are worth one.

Clothes are being collected at each of the league’s track meets, as all the teams gather together at the Reggie Lewis Center. Through the first two meets, North Attleboro was in the lead with 197 points and Sharon was close behind in second at 179.

The idea of using fun competition as a means for drawing interest in helping a local charity stemmed from an MIAA student ambassador huddle. “In small groups, we were talking about how having an incentive can encourage more people to bring in donations,” Faktorovich explained. “I then realized how great it would be to have a competition among the winter tracks teams for a clothing drive.”