Roberto’s Kids: Turning inspiration into action

What is a true marker of one’s legacy? Jackie Robinson’s answer was straightforward: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

Roberto Clemente likewise offered a clear position on making an impact beyond the playing field. “Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on earth.”

Clemente has inspired countless players and everyday people to do good works inside and outside the United States and Latin America. He set an example in helping those who were less fortunate, in proclaiming the dignity of each person, and in spreading the love of the game, especially among children.

Steve Pindar counts himself among those inspired by Clemente. Importantly, through the formation of the Roberto’s Kids Foundation, an organization dedicated to distributing baseball equipment to children across Latin America, Pindar has transformed Roberto’s inspiration into action.

Roberto’s Inspiration

Clemente’s last personal act of giving, of boarding a plane overloaded with relief supplies for earthquake victims in Nicaragua, is well known. It has inspired many throughout the Americas to become involved in humanitarian projects and even to form organizations to aid others. Some organizations develop specific focus. For Roberto’s Kids, a charitable organization founded in upstate New York, that focus is distribution of baseball equipment to kids in Latin America and, eventually, in many other countries across the globe.

“We are the simplest organization to work with,” Pindar declares. “If it has to do with baseball, we want it, from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet, and all the equipment that goes with it.”

The project started simply. Share from the abundance present in Oneonta, New York, with the less fortunate in San Pedro de Macoris, one of the more impoverished areas of the Dominican Republic. This started in 1999 when Pindar collected baseball equipment from his hometown’s Little League. Donated equipment was then taken to San Pedro de Macoris for distribution.

During his initial visits to the Dominican Republic, Pindar realized the need for equipment was much greater than what he initially understood. The Dominican kids he saw were playing with cardboard gloves, sticks for bats, and makeshift baseballs.

What Pindar saw during his trips to distribute donated equipment made it a bit amusing when one reporter asked Pindar: “What are you going to do when you collect so much equipment that there is kids in the world that don’t need it?”

“I should be that lucky,” Pindar replied. “Until the day I die there will be children in the world who literally have nothing and need it.”

For Roberto’s Kids and Beyond

The collection and donation effort started by Pindar in 1999 officially became Roberto’s Kids in 2006 with the blessing of the Roberto Clemente family. Their effort has grown tremendously since and has involved collaborating directly with the Roberto Clemente Foundation on several projects distributing equipment to children.

In those early years Roberto’s Kids distributed three to four tons of donated baseball equipment a year in the Dominican Republic. For the past several years Roberto’s Kids has distributed 50 tons of baseball equipment a year to places across the Americas as well as in India, Siberia, and the African continent.

The project has now gone beyond his “wildest dreams,” Pindar told La Vida Baseball.

Distribution of donated equipment may have expanded across the globe. Yet, Latin America remains central to the mission of Roberto’s Kids and dear to Pindar’s heart.

“I will always ship to Latin America, that’s my heart,” Pindar said. For the organization, the example set by Clemente remains the inspiration to continue with Latin America as its main focal point as is helping young children develop their passion for baseball.

Some might ask what does the donation of baseball equipment do in helping Dominicans and others who receive the equipment. The answer is clear for Pindar. “It does so much more than give the kids equipment … It gives the kids themselves and the people in their barrios, gives them a sense of hope when otherwise all they have is despair.”

In so doing, the Roberto Kid’s organization works toward fulfilling what Clemente asked of us all: to make the most of the opportunity of helping others.

Featured Image: Courtesy Clemente’s Kids Foundation

Inset Images: Courtesy Clemente’s Kids Foundation