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Printed From Acorn-Online.com Wilton Bulletin
While the drive to honor Pfc. Madaras, who was killed in action in Iraq in September 2006, continues at home, it will soon be getting national attention. This Sunday night, Jan. 27, ESPN plans to air a segment it produced on Pfc. Madaras’s life and the soccer ball drive during the 11 p.m. SportsCenter program. The segment is expected to be shown during the rebroadcasts of SportsCenter on Monday morning, and also be posted online at espn.com. A compilation of interviews with Pfc. Madaras’s family, friends and coaches, as well as clips of U.S. soldiers handing out the soccer balls to children in Iraq makes up the approximately 10-minute segment, according to Jose Morales, a feature producer for ESPN. “We’re always looking for stories out of the ordinary and it’s just a remarkable story about a young man in Wilton who helped children in Wilton, left a legacy in town and then tried to help children in Iraq. And of how the town rallied around the cause,” said Mr. Morales of what drew ESPN to cover the story. He said the segment was “more of a split focus on Nick, what he meant to the community of Wilton and what spawned from his death, which was this incredible drive.” “Instead of his death creating an end to his life, they’ve created this legacy in Iraq,” said Mr. Morales. Ken Dartley of Olmstead Hill Road, who started the Kick for Nick drive after reading how Pfc. Madaras had asked his father, Bill, to send him soccer balls and equipment to give to Iraqi children, said the community support for the program has been incredible. To date, nearly 1,500 soccer balls, each signed with Pfc. Madaras’s name, have been collected at the James B. Whipple Post 86 of the American Legion in Wilton Center. During this recent drive, the American Legion offered to pay for the shipping costs to get the balls to Iraq. Also loaded into each box of balls is a pump and a pin so soldiers can inflate the balls for the children, said Mr. Dartley. “It’s really about trying to get other towns to do similar things,” said Mr. Dartley of what he hoped the outcome would be of the ESPN coverage. “It doesn’t have to be soccer balls, it can be clothes, hard candy. Anything to help the soldiers connect with the kids.” He said the drive is about “connecting one community with another.” While the Kick for Nick drive has been held twice a year, Mr. Dartley said it may shift to a once a year campaign from this point out. And the campaign has grown outside of Wilton. Pfc. Madaras’s aunt has started a collection in New Mexico, and a woman in Colorado, who heard of the drive, started her own. Wilton has received balls mailed from as far away as California. For Pfc. Madaras’s father, the ESPN interest came as a surprise, but he feels the exposure may help urge others to find ways to reach out to the troops. “First of all, one way or another, I guess there’s going to be more balls going over there,” he said in a previous interview. “And that’s good for the troops and good for the kids” of Iraq and Afghanistan. More people, he said, want to help the troops, but just don’t know how they can make a difference. “There’s so many ways to show support ... Christmas cards, anything,” he said. The ESPN segment “will create awareness that anybody can find a way to do something.” And the Madaras family is finding other ways to honor their son’s memory as well. On Saturday, Feb. 2, Shalini Madaras, Pfc. Madaras’s mother, will be hosting a benefit for homeless veterans at a home in New Canaan. The event Home Is Where the Heart Is, Valentine’s Soiree, benefits the HELPUSA Veterans Housing fund. Information: helpusa.org/homeiswheretheheartis. Tickets: 761-4979 or shalinimad@aol.com. A link to the ESPN online video will be posted online at wiltonbulletin.com when it becomes available. © Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers |
