They give kids the sports gear they need to stay safe & have fun!

When Melissa Harper and Christy Keswick learned there were kids who couldn't play sports because their parents, school or rec center couldn't afford to provide them with gear, the best friends decided to do something to change that

- Bill Holton

"That went fantastic!" Melissa Harper told Christy Keswick as the two women left the conference room after delivering their PowerPoint presentation to a group of Spalding executives.

"We're going to need a U-Haul," Christy smiled.

"And where are we going to store 500 basketballs?" Christy and Melissa were best buddies since they started on the same day at a Cambridge, Massachusetts, business consulting firm right out of college. They worked long hours but always took breaks to run together. They both loved sportsMelissa had run track in high school, and Christy was the only girl on her youth soccer team. So when, in 2003, a group of businessmen asked them to help with a project-collecting used sports gear to give to needy recreation programs-they both jumped onboard.

Unfortunately, much of the donated equipment was worn and even broken. "We need to rethink. The kids deserve to have good equipment," Melissa said, and she and Christy huddled to come up with a plan.

A winning idea

Serious about their mission, Melissa and Christy founded the nonprofit Good Sports (GoodSports.org) and began networking their way into a meeting with top sporting goods manufacturer Spalding.