SARAH BAIR
Senior, Bullis
SARAH BAIR HAS BEEN playing soccer since she was in kindergarten. So when she was challenged to come up with an idea to change her community at an international youth leadership summit in 2012, she pictured the muddy soccer cleats piled in her parents’ Bethesda garage.
Sarah decided to put the shoes to use and donate them to at-risk kids who dreamed of playing soccer, but couldn’t afford the proper footwear. “I’d use my cleats for one season—they could easily be reused,” she says.
Sarah emailed her idea to DC SCORES, a nonprofit that organizes after-school sports programs for 1,500 low-income students in the District, and two days later they became partners. She held her first drive to collect used cleats soon after, and has since donated more than 200 pairs to at-risk kids. She also founded a nonprofit, Cleats for Peace, so she can raise money to support her mission.
“Moms literally hand me their cleats—they’re so happy to get rid of them,” says Sarah, 18.
Last year she brought used cleats to a DC SCORES after-school soccer practice at Drew Elementary School in Northeast Washington so kids could choose their own. Some were wearing sneakers with holes, and Sarah got the feeling that some had never shopped for shoes. “One girl started to hug me—she couldn’t stop thanking me,” Sarah says.
“Sarah has heart,” says Charly Ryan, director of youth programs at Potomac United Methodist Church, where Sarah volunteers with other kids in a youth group. “She has the unique quality of making everyone feel good—whether they are giving or receiving those cleats.”
Sarah, who has an A average and is taking five Advanced Placement classes this school year, says she’s planning to expand her nonprofit work to Zambia, where another nonprofit soccer group has contacted her for donations. “They don’t have the proper equipment there,” she says. “They need my help.”
Photos by Michael Ventura
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