BASEBALL HATS

 A Letter to Whomever Has Once Loved a Baseball Hat:

            I never was the baseball wearing hat kind of girl; when I go on runs, I will sometimes throw on a college cap or represent my local Padres. However, the excitement over a new hat with fresh stickers and a stiff brim was always obvious during December when friends would start sporting the bright new colors of their lightly worn baseball hats or during the beginning of a baseball season when my cousins would get all their new gear.

            This summer, I had the chance to volunteer in Costa Rica for a month. I taught children basic English, we drew pictures, made play dough, and read Bible stories. Mostly, I showed the children, sometimes for the first time, that someone loved them; they needed to know they were valued.

            In the community in Costa Rica where I taught, there were about thirty boys, and there were two hats that were more coveted than any hats I have seen in the States. There was a schedule that rotated through the boys for the most special hat of all: a Green Bay Packers hat with a hole about the size of a golf ball on the top of their head. The boys would pull all their hair through the hole and said that it made the breeze come in easier. They were so proud of their hat and they were proud on the day that they got to wear it.

            I am planning my trip to revisit the extended family I have created in Costa Rica for next year, and in the mean time sending packages to share my love from a plane ride away. This letter is an invitation for you to share in the gift of compassion with me for children that need the love of strangers. After talking to two of my younger cousins, I learned that there are a lot of kids here in the States that have baseball hats that they will never wear again either because they outgrew them or they have a new favorite. We have therefore started a collection of baseball hats in honor of a shared love for the excitement they bring globally and the curious power of a baseball hat to make a child smile no matter where they live.

            Please clear out your closets and open your hearts with the generous gift of your extra baseball hats. For San Dieagans that need more information on where to drop off baseball hats feel free to contact me at 619/857/9910 or give your donations to the Meyer family. The baseball hat package will be sent on August 1—please gather all donations prior to then. For anyone that lives in Portland and goes to UP, I will be doing a second hat drive that will ship out from school at the end of September. SO, pack your school bags with a few hats and let them make their way to Fields!



With a heart filled with gratefulness for your loving support,



            Brett Ashley Boeh