by Scott Sacry
The Lone Rock Reign, a U12 girls softball team from the Lone Rock area, had a unique team building activity this year. They collected crayons.
Ever wonder what happens to all the crayons from schools, restaurants, and daycares? Mostly they end up in landfills where they don’t biodegrade.
Enter the Crayon Initiative. They take unwanted crayons and remanufacture them into brand-new crayons designed specifically for ill and injured kids.
Jennifer Vereb, the head coach of the Reign, believes in the importance of team building and bonding activities for sports teams. When searching for an activity for her players, she stumbled upon the Crayon Initiative and thought it would be something good for them to do.
“I feel it’s my responsibility to teach the girls life skills alongside softball,” said Vereb. “We went to Griz games and talked to players, but I wanted them to do something more. Then I found the Crayon Initiative. So instead of a Sunday practice, we met to make plans to collect crayons for the initiative. The girls did this all by themselves, they built a box, they created a social media video where they ‘made it reign.’ They had to do all the work themselves – this was not a parent project. In the process they learned valuable community service skills.”
The Reign collected crayons from a variety of sources, including individuals, families, and Lone Rock and Stevensville schools. In the end they filled a big bag full of crayons, saving them from the landfill and helping create a product that will be useful to others.
“The kids learned what it means to give,” said Vereb, “especially when it didn’t benefit them at all. They gave selflessly.”
On the field, the Reign finished their season undefeated against U12 competition, winning their last game on Friday, May 31st. Vereb feels that her team’s success is due in part to this team building activity.
“It shows up on the field when you build things this way,” said Vereb.
The Reign play in the Stevensville Youth Baseball & Softball Association, whose goal it is to promote a competitive environment for players to hone their baseball and softball skills.
To find out more about the Crayon Initiative, go to their website at thecrayoninitiative.org. To find out more about the Stevensville Youth Baseball and Softball Association, go to their website at sybsamt.com.