Moorestown’s Department of Parks and Recreation – in partnership with Sustainable Moorestown – will hold a sports equipment swap on Main Street during Autumn in Moorestown on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Residents can shop the inventory at no cost and don’t need to donate to take items. The swap is run by members of the township’s recreation advisory committee and this year, member and Moorestown High School junior Michael Miceli is leading the initiative.
“Instead of just throwing things out or selling them, it’s going to a good cause for people that don’t have the sports equipment that they need,” he said.
Collection bins for new or used sports equipment are set up at the Moorestown library, the Church Street rec center and the Moorestown Hardware Store through Friday, Oct. 4.
The committee is collecting bats, rackets, mitts, clothes, skates, pads, helmets, sticks, clubs, sports footwear, pinnies, flags, bags, balls and other gear. Although new and gently used items are preferred, all will be accepted and cleaned in time for the swap.
“Like last year, we’ll set up a tent in front of The Cubby Hole and we’ll have a couple tables, and we’ll display all the items that we have collected,” Miceli explained.
Committee member Josh Bowers will help Miceli man the tent.
“I think it’s beneficial to get kids into sports that they couldn’t do otherwise,” Bowers noted of the swap, “and to help people who can’t quite afford the equipment for sports.”
Earlier this year, the committee held a spring collection and swap where residents donated close to 400 items, from soccer balls to roller skates. On Moorestown Day (June 1), 350 of those items went to fellow Moorestown residents and beyond.
“The kids were excited when they saw us with our tent on Moorestown Day …” Bowers elaborated. “Our donation baskets have been filling up (for the fall collection and swap) almost every week. We have plenty of equipment to go through now, and we’re excited to do our second swap.”
Autumn in Moorestown will continue until 3:30 p.m., with the tent up for the entire event.
“I’ve played baseball almost my entire life,’ Miceli said, “and you have to get new equipment almost every year, and bats are really expensive nowadays and gloves too … For every sport, every type of equipment is getting more and more expensive every year. For the whole community to contribute to something like this is just great for everyone …
‘I hope that it not only helps students and athletes with the sports equipment, but that it also helps bring the community together.”
