Connecticut senior donates used cleats to underserved kids

NEWTOWN, Conn. (WTNH) — They come in all kinds of colors and sizes.

“We sort them into garbage bags and we count them to see how many we have,” 17-year-old Marc Maurath said as he laid out cleats, a necessity for youth sports that not everyone can afford.

“My brother and I always played organized sports, so, we always had all these cleats we’d outgrown and they were just accumulating dust in the basement,” he said.

So when Maurath was a freshman at Newtown High School, he had a great idea: to collect and clean used cleats and donate to under-resourced youth programs.

His project is called “Kleats for Kids.”

“Our goal from the beginning was to collect 1,000 cleats and we actually did that this week,” he said.

Now- three years after conception- the mission continues.

Maurath partnered with an organization called Level the Playing Field , which distributes the cleats primarily in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas.

“It makes me feel really good,” Maurath said.

“If anything, our community has learned how to help each other and help people in need,” dad Tom Maurath said.

He’s been shocked by the response from students, parents and coaches.

“We had a baseball event and they gave us almost 200 pairs of cleats,” Tom Maurath said.

The 17-year-old wrestler is now a senior. He’ll work the rest of the school year on the effort but is looking to pass the baton.

“Our goal right now is to find a younger family hopefully like a freshman we know who’d be willing to take it on,” Maurath said.

It’s been a huge learning experience for the teen, full of work, organization and generosity.

“I hope it gets to something even bigger, something that our community is known for, that’d be really good,” he said.

For those looking to donate, there are permanent collection bins at the Newtown Youth Academy , Chelsea Piers in Stamford and the Danbury Sports Arena .

Visit the Kleats for Kids Facebook page for more information.

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