Glenview boy collecting sports equipment, cash for bar mitzvah project
Not knowing any better, I about dropped the phone when Violette Abawi said a bar mitzvah can cost between $20,000 to $50,000.
At the same time, it provided greater admiration for what Glenview boy Micah Swidler is doing for his bar mitzvah project.
"I want to help people who aren't fortunate enough to be able to afford sports equipment," said the Maple School seventh-grader.
In an effort the Glenview Women's Club is supporting with an event on Friday, the young athlete is collecting new and used sports equipment and monetary donations for The Sports Shed, which provides gear and resources to cash-strapped schools and programs.
"This kid, with his family, said we don't want to spend a penny, we want to give back," said Abawi, Glenview Women's Club co-president with Tamara Taylor Holmes.
Micah's mother, Susan Swidler, is a member of the club.
"In my heart," Abawi said, "I'm so taken by this message because I want others to look at him as a good example and follow his steps."
A couple others are right there with him. There are two other bar mitzvah-based donation programs listed with Micah's on the "donate" website section of The Sports Shed, started 11 years ago by a Vernon Hills woman who sought a better home for all the used-but-usable equipment that had piled up in her garage.
From operating on a neighborhood basis, The Sports Shed now works with more than 300 organizations.
"I wanted to do something nice for my bar mitzvah project and I really like to play sports, and I'd like other kids to do it," Micah said.
That tickles The Sports Shed's director of development, Sherry Arthur of Libertyville.
"We're just thrilled anytime a young person wants to get involved with our mission and thinks of others and wants to kind of level the playing field for other kids who don't have the same advantages," she said.
"Most kids who do the project with us love sports and want kids in the city to want to play. And the No. 1 reason that kids can't play sports is the cost of the equipment," she said.
The Glenview Women's Club will help the Swidler boy by hosting a movie night, featuring the football movie "The Blind Side" from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Frida, Oct. 9, in the parking lot outside El Tradicional Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, 649 Lake Cook Rd., Deerfield. Swidler will have a collection bin there all day Friday and at his Glenview home throughout October.
There also are two collection bins for The Sports Shed - new or gently used equipment, no clothes - in Vernon Hills and two more in Libertyville. The company also partners with seven metropolitan Play It Again Sports stores including one in Northbrook at 575 Waukegan Road. The Sports Shed also works with Sports 11 in Libertyville.
Limited to 50 families due to social distancing, and with a rain date of Oct. 11, costs range from $5 for Glenview Women's Club members, $7 for others and $20 for a family ticket (up to five people), with service fees of less than $1 applied to each. Donations of sports equipment or monetary donations are obviously encouraged.
El Tradicional owner Carlos Martinez has devised a special movie night menu and will dedicate 10% of proceeds from food purchased during the event to the Glenview Women's Club. There will be tables on-site or people can bring their own "Ravinia-style" accommodations.
Candy, popcorn and hot cocoa will be available to buy, and Abawi said she'll be stirring up a batch of organic basil lemonade made famous this summer by the Women's Club at pop-up events. There is a spot to purchase entry at The Glenview Women's Club website, glenviewwomensclub.org, under "Events."
All for much less than $20,000.
"I am proud that this family came to me trying to bring something new to the table," Abawi said.