The power of stories—and how you can help!

As owner of The Sports Bra, I am constantly reminded that something so small can become something so incredibly special.

As we’ve been switching out our merch inventory, we had an overstock of youth-size tees. I told Mom that she could just box them up, and I would drop them off at a donation center. 

“Why don’t you find an elementary school or something and give it to kids there?” Mom advised as she always does, unsolicited. Except this time, she actually had a great idea. (Okay, she has lots of them. But what kind of kid would I be if I didn’t give her a hard time?) And then that gave me another idea.

Just to recap, last year, Ms. Heck and her 5th-grade class sent us a package full of letters, drawings, cards and inspiration in celebration of our one-year anniversary:

 

After that first beautiful exchange, something special was born. Ms. Heck and I began to correspond via email, and she started to tell me more about the amazing students at the school and the struggles that many of them faced. She invited me to the school for an assembly to talk about The Sports Bra and a little bit about myself.

We even helped Ms. Heck and Wilkes Elementary launch a DonorsChoose campaign for getting Legos to the students. There were so many responses that we were able to fully fund the Lego project and a few others, too!

Then Ms. Heck wanted to surprise her students at the end of the school year in June and reached out to see if we could send a fun little surprise meal to her class! So we opted for every tot’s favorite “food” group: tater tot nachos!  

So…. 

When Mom dropped her brilliant idea, I naturally thought of Ms. Heck and her 5th-grade class at Wilkes. I sat down and wrote her a short email telling her about our extra merch and how I’d be more than happy to drop it off at the school so they can hand it out to whomever.

Ms. Heck wrote back ecstatic but had another small and simple ask: 

"Would you be interested in reading a short book? Let me know if you'd be interested and I can send you a few ideas I had in mind.”

"Oh cute!” I thought, and then had an ask for her in return—I would LOVE to read to her class, but was wondering if it could be a book about girls in sports!

This next part from Ms. Heck you’ll have to read for yourself:

"You already know I was going to find a book about women's sports!! The only problem is when I went to look for a book in our library, I discovered the entire sports section is very limited. I talked to the librarian to see if there were other books, and she said that section of the library is severely lacking, especially when it comes to women's sports... this situation made me wonder if you'd be interested in sharing a DonorsChoose link to get more sports books, especially women's sports books, for our school. If that is something you'd be interested in, I'm creating a DonorsChoose project for it right now and can share the link once the project goes live.

My class declared that tomorrow is Sports Day, so we will be wearing our sports gear in honor of your arrival.”

 

We decided to read The Girl Who Figured It Out by Minda Dentler, an autobiography from the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship.

Word had gotten out about our read-aloud session, so it was no longer just Ms. Heck’s 5th grade class, but all THREE 5th grade classes! 

About halfway through the book, I got emotional. Minda’s story was powerful, inspiring, and full of encouraging messages of resilience. I hoped that these messages would stick.

Ms. Heck is so good at Canva!

 

In honor of Sports Day, all the kiddos (and teachers!) came in their sportiest outfits and hung drawings and pictures of sports stuff all over the classroom!

5th Graders, their swag and Ms. Heck and me

 

The students, teachers, and faculty at Wilkes have been so kind, and generous with their time and have expressed so much gratitude for this connection. But the truth is that Ms. Heck and her kiddos have given me the greatest gift of all. They’ve allowed me to stop time, pause the world, and take quiet inventory. Their questions come so easily, some simple and some more complicated — all genuine and meaningful: 

“What’s your favorite color?” 

“Are you a boy or a girl?” 

“Why did you open a women’s sports bar?” 

“Were you scared?”

“Can I give you a hug?"

It is amazing to me how the smallest gesture of dropping off some extra tees turned into an experience I won’t forget. And more than that, I hope that the story of a disabled, orphaned, adoptee from India who defied all odds inspires the kiddos to never give up and that the visit helps them see that they are special, loved and that they matter.

So, if you’d like to fill the library shelves of this school with more inspiring books, click here.