Teen continues soldier’s mission providing soccer balls

Published 11:20 pm Monday, June 29, 2009

Bonney Lake High School senior Adriana Bunk can remember when her father returned from his four-month tour of duty in Iraq more than two years ago.

She heard stories of Iraqi children reaching out to him through chain-link fences near their villages and of his desire to do something for them.

His experience inspired Bunk to turn her senior project into an opportunity to help those children.

One evening while watching “Sports Center,” Bunk and her parents Raymond and Suzanne learned of the Kick for Nick Foundation, a group that gathers soccer balls and money from around the country to be donated to the children of Iraq and Afghanistan as a gesture of good will.

The group sends boxes of 30 to 35 balls to specified U.S. soldiers at various stations to be given to the children around their post.

The name Pfc. Nick Madaras, for whom the foundation was created, is written on each ball. Names of other deceased service men and women are written upon request of the individual donators.

Bunk and her family worked with the foundation during the past year, raising $1,000 and collecting 500 balls from people around the country to send to the soldiers in Iraq.

This year, Bunk has turned her community service into her senior project.

In just two days, Bunk collected 70 soccer balls and $250. By the end of her two-week collection period, she hoped to double the numbers she and her family set the year prior.

A member of the National Honor Society, Bunk said she knew she wanted her project to be unique and offer more than what past students had presented.

“People do really, really easy things and I didn’t want it to be like that,” Bunk said. “I didn’t want to do something that was just going to take four hours and then say it took 15.”

Bunk has already put more than 20 hours toward her project, beyond the required 15.

The biggest portion of her project will take place at the Seattle Sounders’ soccer game against the Colorado Rapids at 1 p.m. Sunday at Qwest Field.

Bunk’s father, a King County deputy and East Pierce Fire District commissioner who served in the U.S. Air Force, contacted the Seattle Sounders and arranged a full day for taking collections at seven of the stadium entrances. The event takes place in connection with the Military Appreciation Day.

Twenty friends and volunteers – including Codey Franz, Bennett Snider, Jenna Bowie, Randy Jones, Brie Jones, members of the McCord Community Volunteer Fire Department and Executive Director of the Greater Pierce County Community Network Sarah Kluesner – have offered their time to help during Sunday’s game.

Bunk is making sure she continues with the Kick for Nick Foundation for years to come but on a smaller scale.

“I would like to continue donating to it and helping out with the cause,” she said, “giving these little kids something to play with so it’s not rocks, dirt and sand.”

Bunk’s father is happy to see his daughter becoming so involved in serving the needs of others. He believes not enough people get involved or are aware of the different organizations that offer opportunities for community service.

He explained that groups like Kick for Nick get communities involved and create a positive image with the citizens of Iraq by offering them a helping hand.

“The people of Iraq and the kids of Iraq really love to have that experience and communication with the soldiers in the area,” Raymond said.

Bill Madaras, vice president and secretary of the Kick for Nick program, is grateful to have generous contributions from the Pacific Northwest. The work of Bunk and her family has caught his attention.

“It’s great that kids that aren’t that much different in age to Nick are taking the initiative to do this,” Madaras said.

The Kick for Nick Foundation was formed on behalf of Nick Madaras. His love of sports motivated him to gather all the soccer balls he could while home in Wilton, Conn., on military leave in July 2006 to take back to the Iraqi children near his post.

Before Madaras had the chance to distribute the balls, he was killed by a makeshift bomb in Baquba, Iraq.

His cause was quickly taken up by his parents Bill and Shalini who turned their son’s dream into the organization it is today.

The program has received more than 22,193 balls and monetary donations from anonymous contributors from 45 states.

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