Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Sports Gift has distributed sports equipment to several communities in Easter Europe experiencing severe poverty. Below are some of the stories from the Eastern European region:

2010

Italy and Austria

Partner Organization: Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa
Items Donated: 68
Children Impacted: 40+
This gift of sports equipment included soccer balls, jerseys, frisbee and other sports equipment. The church had missions trip to Italy and Austria with a team of high school students. The trip was designed to give students an opportunity for practical ministry by serving the community, the church, and the people of Italy and Austria, with a strong emphasis on personal evangelism. They were working primarily with children in Italy who have parents, and also with missionary children in Austria.

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2009

Kazakhstan

Items Donated: 229
Children Impacted: 100+
This gift of soccer equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, shin guards, coaching supplies, basketballs and playground balls. This gift was made to an organization supplying orphanages throughout Kazakhstan. These children have nothing to call their own and live in poverty. They have no formal education and live in oppressive conditions.

Romania

Items Donated: 41
Children Impacted: 400+
This gift of soccer balls, footballs, volleyballs and other supplies. Trusesti is a rural community in the northeast corner of Romania. This region is recognized as one of the poorest regions in Romania and the EU. The community has about 5,500 people and only about half are employed and approximately 75% live at or below the national poverty line. The local school has no sports equipment. This gift was made to a Peace Corp volunteer teaching the children in the community so she could start a sports program for the children.

Ukraine

Items Donated: 50
Children Impacted: 350
This gift of soccer balls and soccer uniforms was given to two Peace Corp volunteers to establish a sports program in the communities of Voledarske and Komsomolske in the Ukraine. Volodarske is a town of about 8,000 people in southeast Ukraine. The living conditions in the community are challenging with about half the town having running water and power shortages are common. The town has no places for the children to play without the influence of drugs and alcohol. Komsomolske is a town of about 15,000 located in East Ukraine.