1 Goal + $2000 donations + 15 hours of repairs + 20 hours (and still counting) of time with the kids = “Choosing to Matter”
1 Goal + $2000 donations + 15 hours of repairs + 20 hours (and still counting) of time with the kids = “Choosing to Matter”
The oldest of 3 children, Jackie Schaefer is certainly a role model in her community. As a soccer lover, Jackie wanted to make sure foster kids in her area had a place to play and get involved in sports.
With her project, “Kids Helping Kids”, Jackie took charge of refurbishing a playground and bought sports equipment to give foster kids a fun environment to run around in her hometown.
What began as a simple thought turned into a team effort as people from around the community got involved. Jackie contacted coaches at high schools to set up times for the kids to go watch high school games and for the team to come spend a day at the foster home playing with the kids.
Jackie said the grunt work of painting lines and fixing the grounds made her wonder if the kids would even care, but when she saw them playing on the courts and leading the crowd in cheers at games, it confirmed she had made a difference! She wants to continue adding to and getting more people involved in her project because she believes all young people deserve a chance to play.
Jackie has made straight A’s every quarter in school despite traveling for soccer games all the time. In 5th grade she received a leadership award from the Rotary Club of Jacksonville and in 6th grade she won the Science Award.
Jackie’s favorite food is pasta, her favorite TV show is ‘The X Factor,’ and she has a dog named Bruschi. Her role model is Julie Foudy because she is a true leader on and off the field. Her blog posts from her winning trip to London were published in Huffington Post.